The central banks of the UAE (CBUAE) and Saudi Arabia (SAMA) have officially launched a project for a common digital currency.
A final report on the Aber project follows ongoing experiments and research into the initiative which is considered one of the first of its kind internationally at the level of central banks.
Plans to develop the Aber project were first announced in early 2019 to transact financial settlements between Saudi Arabia and the UAE through Blockchain and distributed ledgers technologies. It is all part of the 40-year plan by the UAE and Saudi to drive away from its reliance on the Petro-Dollar.
It was devised as one of seven initiatives agreed by the Executive Committee of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council at its first meeting in Abu Dhabi last year.
Digital Currency
It aims to provide proof of concept for the feasibility of issuing a digital currency for central banks called the Wholesale CBDC, with a view of developing cross-border payment systems and reducing transfer times and costs between banks, CBUAE and SAMA said in a joint statement.
CBUAE and SAMA both expressed satisfaction with the achieved results, during the testing period, which they described as being “beneficial to the central bank community and the financial system in general”.
“The project results are expected to contribute to developing clear perceptions of the potential of this technology and its applications on the financial sector,” they added.
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