Central banks of UAE, India boost collaboration with MoU

Central banks of UAE, India boost collaboration with MoU

The central banks of the UAE and India have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Abu Dhabi on March 15. The Central bank of the UAE and Reserve Bank of India will collaborate on various emerging areas of fintech especially Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and explore interoperability between the CBDCs of CBUAE and RBI, reported the state news agency, . CBUAE and RBI will jointly conduct proof-of-concept (PoC) and pilot(s) of a bilateral CBDC bridge to facilitate cross-border CBDC transactions of remittances and trade. The MoU also includes technical collaboration and knowledge sharing on matters related to fintech and financial products and services, such as emerging trends, regulations and policies. The MoU is expected to enable joint experimentation with regard to CBDCs and facilitate other digital innovation initiatives between the CBUAE and the RBI. This bilateral engagement between the central banks will witness the testing of cross-border use cases involving CBDCs, which is expected to reduce costs, increase the efficiency of cross-border transactions, and further economic ties between India and the UAE. In recent news, the CBUAE released figures revealing that the total investments of banks operating in the country reached Dhs528bn at the end of December 2022.