The Bank Of Saudi Arabia Reported No Decision On CBDC Issuance

The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia will continue to explore options for the use of the national digital currency, but the decision on its issue has not been made. This is stated in the regulator's bulletin.

The central bank continues to focus on studying the benefits and potential risks of CBDC implementation.

At the moment, the Central Bank is focusing on working out a scenario of wholesale application of the national digital currency in cooperation with local banks and fintechs.

Other aspects of the research include the impact on the economy, market readiness and the application of a payment solution based on CBDC. In addition, CBDC is analyzing policy, legal and regulatory implications.

The CBDC issuance is part of the Saudi Vision 2030 strategy, an initiative to reduce the kingdom's dependence on oil, diversify its economy and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, leisure and tourism.

In 2019, the UAE and Saudi Arabia announced a collaboration to create a new digital currency for cross-border payments.

In late November 2020, the parties announced that the Aber CBDC, released as part of the project, showed the concept to be technically viable. The authors of the report noted its "significant superiority over centralized payment systems in the context of the sustainability of the architecture."