News

Abu Dhabi 26 August 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and Visa, announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under the terms of this MoU, Visa and Buna (The Regional Payment Platform owned by the AMF), will set the foundation for mutual beneficial interoperability and a solid partnership that aims to enable additional rails of money transfer across the two systems, supporting the growth and efficiency of cross-border payments between the Arab region and the rest of the world.

Buna and Visa will collaborate to offer their network of participants and member banks respectively, a quick, efficient, cost effective and secure channels to execute cross-border payments in Arab and International currencies, enabling diversified pay out options.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) issued today Tuesday, August 17, 2021, Policy Guide on “Strategies for Adopting DLT/ Blockchain Technologies in Arab Countries” prepared by the Arab Regional Fintech Working Group (WG), which AMF has its technical secretariat. The guide is being issued in the framework of the Fund's endeavours to promote awareness of the requirements for developing Fintech industry and supporting digital financial transformation efforts in Arab countries.

The guide aims to provide policy directions on how to adopt these technologies in the financial sector, how to employ them properly, the related pre-requisites; thereby improving the efficiency of financial and banking services and enhancing support for digital financial transformation and financial inclusion efforts. The guide elaborates on the various types of Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) and blockchain, clarifies common myths and misconceptions about them, highlights their governance methodologies, and the initiatives of different countries in adopting these technologies and how to formulate national strategies.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is keen to support the efforts of its member countries to implement economic, financial and structural reforms, in face of various challenges, through a number of means, including financing the needs of the balance of payments and public budgets, and financing trade through its affiliate the Arab Trade Financing Program, in addition to its role in promoting policy dialogue and consultation on economic, financial and developmental issues via its various forums and activities, providing technical advice to member countries in the field of economic, fiscal and financial policies, and providing training for government officials in member countries through its Institute for Training and Capacity Building.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is keen to support the efforts of its member countries to implement economic, financial and structural reforms, in face of various challenges, through a number of means, including financing the needs of the balance of payments and public budgets, and financing trade through its affiliate the Arab Trade Financing Program, in addition to its role in promoting policy dialogue and consultation on economic, financial and development issues via its various forums and activities, providing technical advice to member countries in the field of economic, fiscal and financial policies, and providing training for government officials in member countries through its Institute for Training and Capacity Building.

In line with its continuous efforts to support the decision-making process in Arab countries, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) has released the fourteenth edition of the Arab Economic Outlook Report containing updated forecasts of economic growth and inflation for Arab countries in 2021 and 2022.

The report indicated that the global economy started to recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic repercussions in the second half of 2020 in light of the acceleration of vaccines production and the launching of vaccination campaigns in many countries worldwide. Accordingly, the international institutions raised their forecasts for the global growth to range between 5.4 and 6.0 percent, amid an uneven recovery pace led by some major economies, including the United States of America, China, and some other emerging economies whose growth is expected range between 6.2 to 8.4 percent in 2021. On the contrary, other developing countries are expected to witness a fragile and slow recovery.

Abu Dhabi, 29 July 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday July 29, 2021, a workshop to explore and discuss the status and recent developments related to instant payment activities in international markets and the Arab region. 

The workshop comes in line with Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) preparations to launch its instant payment settlement solution, adding another innovative component and a wider dimension to its diversified list of cross-border payment services.

During this workshop, guest speakers representing the European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of Italy (Banca d’Italia), SWIFT, Egyptian Banks Company for Technological Advancement (EBC), Jordan Payments & Clearing Company (JoPACC), Benefit Company, Mashreq Bank, Jordan Ahli Bank and Bank Albilad, will share their experience in instant payment implementation in their respective markets and shed light on the operational and economic benefits resulting from the adoption of this modern market infrastructure service.  

Within the framework of the Arab Monetary Fund’s eagerness to enhance knowledge of the ecosystem of Fintech industry in the Arab region, the Arab Monetary Fund launched today, in cooperation with members of Arab Regional Fintech Working Group, the second edition of the Arab Region Fintech Guide which followed the issuance of the first version of it in August 2020.

The second edition of the Arab Region Fintech Guide aims to be a gateway to learn about Fintech industry in the Arab countries and the related legislation. Also refers to the regulatory and supervisory provisions and procedures, licensing requirements for companies, the sectoral distribution of companies licensed to engage in Fintech activities, in addition to introducing the regulatory authorities responsible for the industry and their role within the Arab countries. The guide reviewed the incubating ecosystem for Fintech industry, its centers, business accelerators, and the activities and initiatives of Fintech industry existing in number of Arab countries.

Abu Dhabi, 6 July 2021 (10 am Abu Dhabi time): The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) and the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) announced today the inclusion of the Jordanian Dinar as a settlement currency in Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF), and the signing of an agreement enabling Buna to execute cross-border payments in Jordanian Dinar.

The Jordanian Dinar is the fourth Arab settlement currency to join Buna’s payment platform, which includes so far, the UAE Dirham, the Saudi Riyal, the Egyptian Pound in addition to the US Dollar and the Euro. This milestone comes in line with Buna’s constant efforts to expand its growing and diversified list of Arab and International currencies and strengthen its position as the payment system of choice across the Arab world.

Abu Dhabi, 1 July 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday July 1^st, 2021, a special workshop to propagate additional knowledge on Buna, the cross-border and multi-currency payment system owned by the AMF, covering various elements related to Buna activities and future plans.

During this workshop, Buna executive team will be enriching the current acquaintance of the banking community with Buna’s innovative solutions and its concrete contribution to the development of the payment sector in the Arab region and beyond, by addressing a diversified list of topics including operations, products roadmap, settlement model, as well as security and compliance frameworks.

The workshop will host more than 200 senior officials representing Arab and international central banks, along with various institutions from the financial, banking and payment sectors in the region and beyond, seeking valuable information about Buna’s recent plans and developments.

In line with its continuous efforts to support the decision-making process in the Arab countries, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) released a study on "Macro and sectoral implications of oil price decrease on oil-exporting countries".

The study assesses the effects of oil price decreases on all other real sectors than the oil sector for Arab net oil-exporting countries. Results show that a decline in oil price shock leads to negative effects on the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its principal demand and supply components.

Consequently, the study calls for more efforts to build more resilience towards oil fluctuations by diversifying fiscal revenues. As diversification towards creating more non-oil revenues advances, this leads to gradually decoupling changes in public spending from changes in oil prices.

A full version of the study is available at this link