Saudi Arabia: Announced Common Virtual Currency Project "Aber"

On 17 January 2019, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the United Arab Emirates Central Bank (UAECB) announced the launch of common digital currency project "Aber". The project's objective is to integrate blockchains and distributed ledger technologies into financial transactions for both countries. The analysis will be based on a "proof-of-concept" framework which will be based on studying technologies' feasibility and impact on costs and security risks. The project will oversee the launch of a pilot project to study the benefits of the aforementioned technologies and to what extent they could contribute to seamless cross-border transactions between private banks. SAMA and UAECB also assert that Aber could be used for additional reserves in the respective central payment settlement system. Currency use will be limited to a number of commercial banks from both countries.