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The issue of enhancing access to finance and financial services in the Arab countries is receiving growing attention from the Council of Arab Central Banks and Monetary Authorities’ Governors, in recognition of the potential and significant opportunities that can be achieved by increasing financial inclusion to support inclusive and sustainable economic development, address unemployment challenges and achieve equality. There is no doubt that enhancing financial inclusion plays an important role in supporting the efforts to face the climate change repercussions, by enabling financial sector customers to deal with risks associated with climate changes and enhancing their ability to recover from the climate change effects, which in turn contributes to inclusive and sustainable development, thus leading to soundness and resilience of the financial sector.

Abu Dhabi, April 17, 2023: Buna (the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, owned by The Arab Monetary Fund “AMF”), announces the launch of its Instant Payment Service (IPS). This anticipated service is now live and ready to onboard participants seeking payments that are instant and available 24/7/365, in a cost-effective way.

On this occasion, her Excellency the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance expressed her appreciation for the support provided by the AMF and the important role it plays in strengthening the ability of Arab countries to maintain economic stability and face different challenges. In turn, his Excellency the Director General of the AMF valued the efforts pursued by the Kingdom of Morocco to implement economic and structural reform programs, which largely contribute to improving the outlook for its credit rating by rating agencies, stressing the AMF keenness to continue the fruitful partnership with the Moroccan government to help the country address the different challenges in the most effective way.

The program supported by the aforementioned loan includes a number of pillars: strengthening the system of control and supervision of the financial and banking sector, promoting sustainable financing, enhancing financial inclusion, promoting financial innovation, and developing the legal framework governing the capital market.

Abu Dhabi, April 12, 2023: Buna, the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, announced the success of the first cross-border payment for the pensions of Iraqi retirees residing in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The transaction also represented the first transfer In Jordanian dinars utilizing the Buna system.

Arab Monetary Fund has released on Monday 27^th of March 2023, a study titled "Assessing the association between the global carbon futures index and equity returns and volatility in selected Arab countries". The study aims to investigate the connection between the Global Carbon Futures Index (GCFI), stock returns, and volatility in four Arab stock exchanges: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, by analyzing daily data between February 1, 2017, and October 30, 2022, using the generalized autoregressive conditional heterogeneity model (GARCH).

It aims to deepen the RFAs’ understanding of how their regional peers are approaching the emerging policy issue of climate change, and to stimulate collective reflections on how best to support members’ efforts to foster a more sustainable and resilient future.

The RFAs who participated in the study are: Arab Monetary Fund (AMF); the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), which is the macroeconomic surveillance unit of the ASEAN+3 region; the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD); the European Union’s Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA), which is managed by the European Commission; the European Stability Mechanism (ESM); and the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR).

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) in cooperation with World Bank Group, and The Gulf Capital Market Association has issued today March 16^th 2023, a Guidance Note on “Sovereign Sustainable Instruments for the Arab region”. The note is issued under the framework of the Fund's endeavours to promote awareness of the requirements for developing the green and sustainable agenda in the Arab region.

The guidance note aims to promote awareness of ESG investing in the sovereign debt asset class and how it pertains to sovereign issuers in the Arab region.  It also provides regional policymakers with an insight into these key developments, to help promote a supportive ecosphere for sustainable finance including the local capital markets and banking sectors.

Abu Dhabi, March 9^th, 2023: Buna (the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, owned by The Arab Monetary Fund “AMF”), will hold, on Thursday March 9^th, its monthly virtual workshop number 40 to promote strong risk and compliance awareness within its ecosystem and detail the Buna compliance framework.

Buna is committed to propagating strong compliance awareness and the workshop will highlight the need to ingrain a culture of compliance in the payment ecosystem.  As such, the workshop will also host high-level guest speakers representing the U.S Treasury and the European Central Bank who will share valuable insights and trends and expand on the topic of financial crime in cross-border payments ecosystem. A Buna executive will also detail the compliance framework used in Buna that further strengthens the commitment to achieving key objectives by following the necessary conformity and security standards. 

The AMF extended a new Compensatory Loan to the Kingdom of Morocco, with the amount of Arab Accounting Dinar 41.125 million, the equivalent of approximately USD 166 million. The agreement was signed on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, by HE Nadia Fettah, Minister of Economy and Finance, on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco, and HE Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the AMF, on behalf of the AMF, with the aim to provide financial support to strengthen the country’s financial position and meet emergency needs. The loan was disbursed on Thursday, February 2, 2023

Abu Dhabi, January 19^th, 2023: Buna (the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, owned by The Arab Monetary Fund “AMF”), holds today, Thursday January 19^th, its monthly virtual workshop number 39 to showcase Buna’s contribution to regional economic integration and detail the mechanisms put in place by the central banks to ensure the safety and resiliency of the service.