Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is a regional Arab financial institution founded in 1976 and aims at strengthening economic, financial, and monetary stability in its member countries (22 countries). It also aims at laying the monetary foundations for Arab economic integration and promoting economic development in Arab countries.
The service is now operational in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and Jordan Ahli Bank as the first users.
Adopting PvP as FX settlement mechanism contributes to the global effort led by the Group of Twenty (G20) to enhance cross-border payments.
Abu Dhabi, November 6th, 2023: Buna, the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, which is owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, announced Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and Jordan Ahli Bank (ahli) as the first users of its Payment versus Payment (PvP) service, which supports safer settlement for foreign exchange (FX) trades.
Buna’s PvP mechanism ensures that settlement in one currency occurs if and only if the settlement of the other currency occurs simultaneously, resulting in a more efficient and secure way of conducting settlement of foreign exchange transactions, in line with one of the building blocks of the G20 roadmap to enhance cross-border payments.
November 22-23, 2023 | “Online”
The MoU aims to create cross-border interlinking via Buna and Raast the respective instant payment systems of the Arab region and Pakistan.
This arrangement will help achieve greater financial inclusion and strengthen economic, financial, and investment ties between the Arab region and Pakistan.
Abu Dhabi, November 3, 2024: In a ceremony hosted by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), H.E Dr. Abdulrahman Abdullah Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), and H.E Mr. Jameel Ahmad, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The MoU is signed to establish a framework of cooperation between Buna, the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, owned by AMF, and Raast, Pakistan’s Instant Payment System.
The integration of Raast with Buna aims to facilitate Cross-border Remittances between the Arab region and Pakistan through formal channels. This initiative will benefit individuals as well as businesses not only through instant, safe and cost-effective cross border payments, but also by strengthening economic, financial, and investment ties between the Arab countries and Pakistan.
Buna has been natively ISO 20022 compliant and welcomes this additional level of harmonization that will support its interlinking initiatives and smoother cross-border payment
Abu Dhabi, October 27, 2023: Buna, the cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization “ARPCSO”, which is owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, welcomes the recent publication of the report by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) regarding harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements for cross-border payments that will facilitate global collaboration to enhance cross-border payments.
Since its inception, Buna adopted ISO 20022 messaging standard and initiated different interlinking initiatives supporting its objectives of enhancing cross-border payments and strengthening the economic ties between the Arab region and its main global partners. The adoption of the 12 harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements published by the CPMI will facilitate Buna’s ambition as the harmonization is expected to reduce the inefficiencies that occur due to misaligned message flows and inconsistent data usage along the cross-border payment chain.
The fiscal sustainability of Arab countries has been significantly challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A uni-directional causal relationship exists where government revenue leads to expenditure, affirming the revenue–spend hypothesis.
The Arab Monetary Fund published a study on "Fiscal sustainability in Arab countries". The study aims to shed light on the relationship between government revenue and government expenditure. The study analyses fiscal sustainability and the causal link between government revenue and expenditure for the period from 1990 to 2021 in a sample of Arab countries.