The Central Bank and the Arab Monetary Fund have announced the signing of an agreement between them to launch settlement operations in UAE dirhams on the “Banna” platform for Arab payments.
A statement issued yesterday stated that the announcement is the culmination of the efforts made by the Central Bank teams and the "structures" platform, to link regulations, conduct tests, and complete procedures during the past months, to include the dirham as the first settlement currency in the platform.
According to the statement, the launch of dirham settlement operations enables banks operating in Arab countries participating in the "brown" platform to accelerate clearing and settlement of payments across borders that are made in dirhams and reduce their costs.
He pointed out that the dirham accounts for a large percentage of Arab payments, given that it is the largest Arab currency that is traded across borders in the Arab world, as the share of transactions in dirham exceeded more than 13% of the total Arab financial transactions between (this does not include transfers of individuals through Exchange companies).
The Director General of the Board of Directors of the Arab Monetary Fund, Dr. Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah Al-Hamidi, pointed to the continuous support from the Governor of the Central Bank of the “Bani” platform for Arab payments, and the cooperation of his team in the bank, to complete the procedures for including the dirham as the first currency in the “Bina” platform for payments, and encourage participation Its commercial banks.
It is noteworthy that Bani represents a multi-currency payment platform that provides clearing and settlement services in Arab currencies and international currencies that meet the eligibility requirements to clear and settle inter-Arab financial transactions, as well as financial transactions between Arab countries and the main trading partners of Arab countries.
The platform aims to enable financial and banking institutions in the Arab region, including central and commercial banks, to send and receive inter-payments in all parts of the Arab region and outside in a safe and reliable manner, at an appropriate cost and high effectiveness.