SAMA, UAE Central Bank issue report on joint digital currency

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) and the UAE Central Bank today, Nov. 29, issued a report on the results of joint digital currency “Aber” project.

The two central banks launched the project as an innovative initiative, one of the first of its kind globally at the level of central banks.

The initiative aims to proof of concept for study, understand and evaluate the feasibility of issuing a digital currency for central banks (Wholesale CBDC) with a view to developing cross-border payment systems and reducing transfer times and costs between banks, in addition to experiment the direct use and actual application of technologies such as the distributed ledgers.

The final results of the pilot project were consistent with the results of similar pilots conducted by a number of central banks. These results showed that the distributed ledger technology would enable central banks to develop payment systems at both local and cross-border levels.

The results are expected to contribute to developing clear perceptions of potential of this technology and its applications to the financial sector, the report said.