The Saudi Central Bank is continuing its digital currency testing project, according to the Saudi press agency SPA.
The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia is currently working in partnership with banks and financial technology companies operating in the Kingdom on a phase of a project to explore the use cases of central bank digital currency allocated to financial institutions at the local level.
According to “SPA”, this project is in line with many central bank digital currency initiatives around the world and is also one of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing efforts to explore and test digital currency. central bank.
SPA indicated that, at this stage, the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia is committed to discussing the economic implications, market readiness, and possible efficient and fast applications for payment solutions using central bank digital currency, in addition to exploring policy, legal and regulatory issues. acts. aspects before moving on to the next steps of the project to contribute to the goals of the Kingdom Vision 2030.
For his part, Governor of the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia Fahd bin Abdullah Al Mubarak said that local banks and payment companies are an indispensable cornerstone of this project and its implementation, pointing in this regard to the participation of local banks and financial technology companies in the current stage project, as well as with the participation of other market participants, as well as third-party consulting and technical service providers, in order to gain a broader understanding of the functions of digital currency and test various design options.
It is worth noting that the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia plans to continue to explore the central bank digital currency, while consulting with relevant international bodies, local governments and the general public, and continue testing the digital currency. currency, given that it is one of the possible infrastructure elements supporting innovation in the service sector. Finance, in addition to the ability of digital currency to help strengthen the payment system and accelerate digital transformation in the financial sector in the Kingdom.
The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia emphasized that it has not made any decision regarding the launch of the digital currency for the central bank in the Kingdom, but continues its work and its current focus on exploring the potential benefits and risks of using digital currency. which will undoubtedly contribute to the adoption of informed decisions within the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia and will enrich the global results associated with the use of these currencies at the level of central banks.
The Saudi Central Bank previously managed to test a central bank digital currency through the 2019 Aber project, which is an initiative launched in collaboration with the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates to explore the extent to which distributed ledger technology can be used to facilitate cross-border payments.
Source: “SPA”