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The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) issued today Sunday November 28, 2021, a policy paper on “Islamic Fintech in the Arab Region: Imperatives, Challenges and the Way Forward” prepared by the Arab Regional Fintech Working Group (WG), which AMF acts as the technical secretariat of the group. The paper is issued under the framework of the Fund's endeavours to promote awareness of the requirements for developing Fintech, hand in hand with Islamic Financial Services Industry while supporting digital financial transformation efforts in Arab countries.

The paper aims to provide policy advice on how to adopt these technologies in the Islamic Financial Industry, how to employ them properly, in addition to the related pre-requisites, and how to overcome the implementation challenges. Thereby how to improve the efficiency of Islamic banking and financial services, aiming to support digital financial inclusion in the region.

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

The Arab Monetary Fund publishes “Central Bank Background Papers on Monetary Policy Frameworks in the Arab Countries”. Papers in this volume were prepared for the AMF-BIS Fourth Working Party Meeting on Monetary Policy in the Arab Region organized by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in a virtual format on 31 May, 1, 2 June 2021.

The purpose of this event was to review recent global and regional economic and financial developments and to exchange views on their implications for the banking sector and monetary policies management in the Arab region. Also, the meeting addressed some technical issues related to the role of monetary policy in mitigating the impacts of Covid-19 and supporting economic recovery in coordination with fiscal and macroprudential policies, and it included a special session on Central Banks Digital Currencies implications for monetary policy.

The Ministers of Finance of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the State of Kuwait, and the Kingdom of Bahrain met on October 19, 2021 to discuss the latest developments regarding Bahrain’s Fiscal Balance Program in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arab Monetary Fund attended the meeting as an advisory body providing assessment of the program achievements. They reviewed the latest developments on the program's initiatives in light of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the implementation of the program, with a view to achieve a fiscal balance between government revenues and expenditures in the year 2024.

The ministers welcomed the efforts made by the government of Bahrain in implementing the Fiscal Balance Program, and the progress made by the government despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministers affirmed their support to the Kingdom of Bahrain’s efforts in pursuing further reforms to enhance fiscal stability and strengthen sustainable economic growth.

Abu Dhabi, 14 October 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday October 14, 2021, a workshop to elaborate on Buna’s (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) different initiatives to push the frontiers of cross-border payments and improve interoperability models in collaboration with operators of payment networks and market infrastructures.

During this workshop, guest speakers representing, the Bank of Italy, Visa and the Pan African Payment and Settlement system (PAPSS) will share their different experiences with Buna, and their views on the added value that strategic framework of cooperation between payment systems can bring to enhance cross-border payments across the globe.

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

Abu Dhabi, 14 October 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday October 14, 2021, a workshop to elaborate on Buna’s (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) different initiatives to push the frontiers of cross-border payments and improve interoperability models in collaboration with operators of payment networks and market infrastructures.

During this workshop, guest speakers representing, the Bank of Italy, Visa and the Pan African Payment and Settlement system (PAPSS) will share their different experiences with Buna, and their views on the added value that strategic framework of cooperation between payment systems can bring to enhance cross-border payments across the globe.

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

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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.

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.

Banca d’Italia and the Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization (ARPCSO) announced today the successful completion of a joint experiment aimed at linking for the first time the instant payment settlement platforms with multi-currency features (TIPS and BUNA) operated by the two organizations. The results of the experiment have been presented at an international webinar held under the auspices of the Italian Presidency of the G20 on 27-28 September.

The experiment simulated the payment of €1 by a current account holder of Banca Intesa Sanpaolo in favour of a customer of Jordan Ahli Bank, who received the money in Jordanian dinars (JOD). During the experiment, a number of cross-currency transactions were settled in both TIPS and Buna IPS, by debiting Intesa Sanpaolo’s TIPS account in EUR and crediting Jordan Ahli’s JOD account in BUNA. The average end-to-end response time for these transactions was approximately 15 seconds.