Revealed: how UAE, Saudi Arabia plan to use common digital currency

Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority and the UAE Central Bank announce Aber project to forge closer financial ties

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the UAE Central Bank has announced more details about plans to launch a common digital currency.

The Aber project will be used in financial settlements between Saudi Arabia and the UAE through Blockchain and distributed ledgers technologies, the central banks said in a joint statement.

It will also establish an additional means for the central financial transfer systems of the two countries and enable banks to directly deal with each other in conducting financial remittances, the statement added.

SAMA and the UAE Central Bank said they "share the same desire" to launch pilot projects in the use of these technologies to learn how to benefit from them.

The project will also enable them to consider using the project as an additional reserve system for the domestic central payments settlement system in case of their disruption for any reason.

The Aber project will be restricted to a limited number of banks in each country initially while technical challenges are addressed, the statement added.?

The Aber project was first revealed last week as one of seven initiatives agreed by the Executive Committee of the Saudi-Emirati Coordination Council at its first meeting in Abu Dhabi.