Saudi Arabia: Adopted Report on Common Virtual Currency Project "Aber"

On 29 November 2020, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the United Arab Emirates Central Bank (UAECB) issued a report on their common digital currency (CBDC) project "Aber". The project's objective was to integrate blockchains and distributed ledger technologies into cross-border financial transactions for both countries. For a year, CBDC designs and standards were tested. SAMA and UAECB conclude that distributed ledger technology is a useful tool to enable "architecturally resilient" financial transactions domestically and across borders. The privacy, security, decentralisation, and traceability objectives were all met. However, some areas remain to be studied, such as consolidated approaches to interest calculation or the general effect of a CBDC on domestic monetary policy. Finally, the project report identifies future applicability in other areas such as Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS) or the use of CBDCs for other transactions such as bonds or dematerialised assets.