Moroccan Holiday Money

Anyone planning a Moroccan holiday must give careful consideration to how they will pay for goods and services when it Morocco. Those who are used to pre-ordering currency from the bank before their holiday, changing holiday money at a bureau de change at the departure airport or relying on credit cards to pay for holiday purchases will find that they come seriously unstuck in Morocco. The reason of the difficulties over Moroccan money are twofold. Firstly, Moroccan currency is restricted, which means that it cannot be legally obtained outside of Morocco, nor can it be removed from Morocco at the end of a holiday. Secondly, Morocco's banking and communication systems are rather less sophisticated than in England and many establishments which one would imagine would accept payment by credit or debit card do not offer such a facility. There are quite simple ways of to overcome these difficulties, but they do require a degree for thought and planning.

Moroccan Currency

The Moroccan unit of currency is the dirham, which one usually see abbreviated on hotel tariffs, price lists and menus to Dh. There are 100 centimes in one dirham. Moroccan banknotes are issued in denominations of 200, 100, 50 and 20 dirhams, where as coins come in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 dirhams and 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimes. the denomination is marked on coins and banknotes in Arabic numerals, so there is little cause confusion. However, it is as well to be aware of that many traders, particularly in rural areas, will not accept large denomination notes and it is advisable therefore always to carry some currency in small denomination notes or coins. Another potential pitfall, although one which is only relevance in certain rural areas, is that parts of the country retain the use of an entirely illusory unit of currency, known as the real or rial. One rial is the equivalent of five centimes. One will see goods marked up with prices in rials in rural markets, but there have never been coins struck in rial denominations and one will be expected to pay in dirhams at the appropriate conversion rate.

Obtaining Money in Morocco

Having established that Moroccan currency cannot be obtained outside Morocco, there are three options for obtaining currency once in the country. The safest and most convenient is to take travellers cheques, which can be exchanged for the local currency at one of the many bureaux de change or banks, or can be used directly make payments had many of the larger hotels. The preferred currencies for travellers cheques are euros, US dollars or sterling. Those who choose not to take travellers cheques can exchange foreign currency (euros and US dollars are preferred) at banks or beureaux de change. However, it is ill-advised to carry large sums in foreign currency in a country where pickpockets and street criminals target foreign tourists. Those who carry credit or debit cards which carry the Visa, MasterCard or Eurocard symbols will find that they can draw money at most banks or from the increasing number of cashpoint machines that are being installed in the larger cities. They had a slight danger in drawing money from cashpoint machines in that some are not able to accept foreign credit or debit cards and will retain them. It is therefore advisable if one is to draw money from a cashpoint machine to do so during the hours that the bank is open so that the card can be retrieved should this problem occur. Normal banking hours in Morocco 8:30 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Thursday, whilst on Friday, the Moroccan day of prayer, the banks close a little before noon and and little need to be opening in the afternoon. During Ramadan banks are just hoping hours to account for the period of fasting and tend to open from 8:30 a.m. to early afternoon without a break.

Using Credit Cards in Morocco

Credit and debit cards are becoming much more widely accepted in Morocco. One will generally find the larger hotels, particularly those in the cities and other tourist resorts, will accept payment by credit card, as will many of the more expensive restaurants and shops that cater for tourist market. It certainly does no harm to ask whether credit card payment is accepted before sitting down to a meal in a rest or checking into a hotel and may prevent a potentially embarrassing incident.