Back in the winter of 2019, it became known about the plans of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to issue a joint digital currency as part of the so-called Abra project. The same states are moving towards the creation of their national tokens (CBDC).
The Abra project is the basis for the emergence of Saudi digital currency. The central bank of the kingdom is not going to give up cash at all even after the introduction of an innovative instrument.
CBDC aims to increase the availability of financial services. With the help of this instrument, the Saudi Arabian authorities plan to increase the share of non-cash payments to 70% by 2030.
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At the same time, the Kingdom's Central Bank does not exclude that the task will be completed five years earlier, that is, by 2025.
Currently, many countries are working on the creation of the CBDC. The farthest in this direction are the CBs of Hong Kong, China, and Thailand.