(Ecofin Agency) - In Morocco, a total of 12,292 fake bank notes were detected in 2016, valued at 1.9 million dinars (about $200,000). This is 19% more than in 2015, in terms of bank notes and 43% in terms of value. This was revealed by the country’s central bank, Bank Al-Maghrib, in a report released recently.

The rate of notes counterfeiting in Morocco in 2016 stood at 8.6 fake notes for every million bank notes circulating, against 7.6 fake notes the year before. This represents a slight increase of 1.1pt.

Counterfeiting according to Bank Al-Maghrib, concerns mainly high-denomination bank notes, knowingly 200 dinars (about $20) and 100 dinars (about $10) notes. These make respectively 57% and 26% of the identified fake notes.

To slow the practice, Bank Al-Maghrib has conducted many control missions on banks operating in Morocco, over the past years. These missions mainly consisted in checking if the lenders were scrupulously conforming to the rules regulating notes recycling.

As a result of the Apex bank’s missions, 92% of the country’s banks effectively respected these rules, this is against 85% the year before.