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Abu Dhabi, 26 January 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) is pleased to announce its relationship with J.P. Morgan to serve as a settlement bank for the U.S. Dollar (USD) in the Buna Payment System, which has been launched last year.

The inclusion of the USD in Buna in coordination with J.P. Morgan marks another major milestone with respect to establishing Buna as the payment system of choice across the Arab world. Such an announcement will further strengthen Buna’s value proposition and benefit in terms of streamlining cross-border payments, hence promoting trade and fostering economic activities among Arab countries and between the Arab region and its main trading partners.

In its endeavor to support the decision-makers in the Arab countries, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) in collaboration with a number of the Joint Arab Institutions has released the 40^th edition of the Joint Arab Economic Report (JAER) in its Arabic and briefed English version.

The report is a model of the fruitful cooperation between the Joint Arab Institutions. It is co-authored by the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Arab Monetary Fund, Organization Of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC). The Arab Monetary Fund takes the responsibility of editing and publishing the report.

The participating institutions are keen to ensure that the Report reflects the current situations of Arab economies accurately and objectively, both in terms of data and used methodology. The JAER authors collect the required data and information from reliable official sources through a comprehensive survey dedicated to this purpose.

Abu Dhabi, 04 February 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday February 4, 2021 a workshop to shed light on different elements related to the inclusion of the US Dollar as a settlement currency in Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF).

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 from the region and beyond, looking to learn more about Buna’s work progress, recent developments, and future plans.

During the workshop, a senior representative of JP Morgan and Buna executive team, will share insights and important information on Buna’s recent success of adding the US Dollar to its diversified list of Arab and International settlement currencies. The workshop will also allow discussing Buna’s next steps and plans to increase and strengthen the level of cooperation with its growing network of participants.

Abu Dhabi, 04 March 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday March 4, 2021, a workshop to explore the views of global card schemes on cross-border payments as a driver to regional and global economic growth. In addition they will share their perception of how Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) can play a key role in streamlining cross-border payments by acting as a bridge between the Arab region and the rest of the world. The workshop will also discuss different operational perspectives related to the payment flows in US Dollar through the Buna payment system, following the inclusion of the US Dollar as a settlement currency in Buna.

In line with its continuous efforts to support policymakers in the Arab region, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) releases the April edition of the "Arab Economic Outlook" report for 2021, which includes projections for the Arab countries' macroeconomic performance in 2021 and 2022.

With the availability of anti-virus vaccines, hopes for a gradual recovery of the global economy have revived, as the world economy is expected to grow by 4.5 and 3.8 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively, according to the average of international institutions’ estimates. On the other hand, the international oil markets are expected to witness an increase in demand for oil by 5.8 million barrels per day during 2021 to support the gradual global economic recovery. This will work in conjunction with the continuation of the "OPEC+" agreement to reduce the quantities of oil produced on supporting its prices in international markets.

Abu Dhabi, 08 April 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday April 8, 2021, a workshop to discuss Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) consideration to expand its set of innovative solutions by supporting the clearing and settlement of securities, with the ambition of developing an integrated Arab Financial Market that is capable to increase the depth of issued financial instruments and provide easier access to Arab and international investors. Additionally, this workshop will mark one year of the Buna interactive events that reached a total number of 20 workshops, during which the Buna management team and diverse high-level guest speakers representing Arab and international financial institutions, elaborated on the value proposition of Buna and shared regular updates on its progress and plans.  

Today, on the Arab Day for Financial Inclusion, April 27, 2021, Arab Monetary Fund launched the Index of Modern Financial Technologies in the Arab Countries (FinxAr).  The index sheds light on the developments in the financial technology industry and digital financial services in the Arab countries during the period (2018-2020).  The launch of the index comes within the Arab Monetary Fund’s efforts to support Arab countries in promoting Fintech industry and digital financial transformation in a way that serves to enhance inclusiveness, financial stability and opportunities to achieve sustainable development.

The annual index aims to identify the efforts of Arab countries in enabling and promoting Fintech adoption.  It also contributes to setting a vision for the modern financial technology industry in the Arab countries and how to support the Fintech ecosystem, in order to help formulate national policies to strengthen the industry in Arab countries in the future, where they harness potential opportunities and mitigate related challenges.

Abu Dhabi, 06 May 2021: The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) holds today, Thursday May 6, 2021, a workshop to elaborate on the compliance and information security standards that Buna (the cross-border payment system owned by the AMF) had put in place to adhere to the highest international requirements against terrorism and financial crime and protect the data of its participants.

During this workshop, Industry Experts representing Elucidate, Refinitiv, and DXC Technology and Buna executive team will share valuable insights on key topics related to compliance and information security.

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 for valuable information about Buna’s recent developments.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), in collaboration with the Arab Regional Fintech Working Group members, published today a document titled “Open Banking Regulatory Principles”, as part of the AMF ongoing efforts to support digital financial transformation in the Arab countries, which plays a major role in growing the level of financial inclusion and contributing to the development of innovative financial services. The document highlights the benefits that open banking services may create for the financial and banking institutions customers, in terms of increased competition, lower costs, encouragement of innovation, and the generation of new business models and use cases.

The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) organize the "Fourth Working Party Meeting on Monetary Policy in the Arab Region," which is being held in virtual format on 31 May, 1 and 2 June 2021. The purpose of this event is 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 will address technical issues related to the role of monetary policy on mitigating the impacts of Covid-19 and supporting economic recovery in coordination with fiscal and macroprudential policies, and it will include a special session on Central Banks Digital Currencies implications for monetary policy.