The Central Bank of Saudi Arabia has announced that it has injected more liquidity into the country’s banks, using blockchain technology.
The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) revealed that the injection was to further its efforts and experimentation of blockchain technology, thereby expanding its capacity to continually provide credit facilities.
Although the amount of liquidity was not disclosed, the central bank indicated last week that 50 billion Saudi riyals, about $13.35 billion, was injected to enable banks to support the private sector.
In a recent official statement, SAMA boasts that it is one of the world’s first central banks to try using blockchain technology for fund transfers. It says that the move is one of a few that the authority is using to encourage financial technology throughout Saudi Arabia.
Last year, SAMA collaborated with the central bank of the UAE to launch a crypto project. Dubbed Aber, the project was aimed at using crypto to help banks streamline financial settlements via blockchain.
In 2018, SAMA partnered with Ripple to build a platform that facilitates fast and cheap payments, through RippleNet. These moves are geared toward enhancing and supporting the use of blockchain technology in the finance sector.
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