Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor, Tarek Amer, will open the 43rd session of the Arab Central Banks Governors and Arab Monetary Associations on Sunday. According to an Arab Monetary Fund's (AMF) statement, the session is expected to discuss regional and international monetary, financial, and economic developments, their repercussions on Arab countries, issues of central bank governance, and central bank cryptocurrencies, among other topics. The agenda also includes reviewing the report of the secretariat of the council presented by Abdul Rahman Bin Abdullah Al Humaidi, general manager of the board of directors of the AMF, the draft financial stability report for 2019, the draft report on a unified Arab economy for 2019. Additionally, the recommendations and actions of the Arab Banking Supervisory Committee, the Arab Commission for Payment and Settlement Systems, and the Arab Commission for Credit Information would be tackled during the session. The agenda also includes discussing the recommendations and actions of the Regional Working Group to promote financial inclusion in the Arab states and the Financial Stability Task Force. It is scheduled for the board to also discuss a number of topics, papers, and reports, the most important of which, “banking supervision of institutions of systemic importance locally: Arab Experiences, Operational Risk Frameworks, Digital Banking Identity, Responsible Finance: policies, tools and experiences. It also discusses "the movements of risky assets and their impact on financial stability", "the risks and repercussions of cryptocurrencies on the financial sector", "Determining the size of the indebtedness of the household sector in the Arab countries and its impact on financial stability"; soundness of indicators of the corporate sector, identify risks, and repercussions on the financial sector in the Arab countries. " Papers presented in this session also include "Using Cryptocurrencies in Payment Systems", "Immediate Payments Experiences in Arab Countries", "Uses of Blockchain Technology in Payment Processes: Prospects and Opportunities", and "Applications of Advanced AI Methodologies in the field of credit inquiry" and "Developing the systems of movable assets in the Arab countries". The agenda also includes discussion of the activities of the Working Group on Modern Financial Technologies, established by the AMF in December 2018. In this context, the board will discuss a paper on crowdfunding platforms, prospects and regulatory frameworks, and a blockchain and financial sector safety paper. The session will also address the proposal of the Regional Laboratory for Regulatory Innovations at the regional level, which was prepared within the framework of the Financial Inclusion Initiative for the Arab region. In addition to these topics, the agenda includes a number of issues of importance to central banks and Arab monetary associations, especially the follow-up to the implementation of the “Arab Clearing” project where the AMF is intensifying its efforts to establish a regional institution for the clearing and settlement of Arab payments. This project aims to promote intra-Arab investments and trade and the use of Arab currencies. The meeting will also discuss the draft unified Arab letter for 2019, which will be presented by the Arab Group at the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, scheduled to be held in October in Washington.
