Saudis join intl digital currency project

Saudi Arabia has joined Project mBridge — a cross-border platform for experimenting with central bank digital currencies for international trade — as a full participant, which experts said will add resilience to global trade by facilitating renminbi settlement for bulk commodities trade.

Aiming to construct a robust and innovative cross-border payment infrastructure, the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), said recently that it has joined the mBridge project as a participant in the project's minimum viable product platform.

Project mBridge resulted from collaboration starting in 2021 between the Bank for International Settlements' innovation arm, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, the Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China, and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.