The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the Emirates Investment Authority (EIA) signed a deal to introduce a mint in the country that will print all the national currency. The creation of the mint is aimed at meeting the growing need of the Central Bank of printed currency notes as the country sees increasing progress and maturity.
The Central Bank and the EIA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for establishing and operating a mint in the UAE which will not only correspond to the local demand, but it will be also essential step into further “market the surplus capacity in international markets”. The MoU was signed by Sultan bin Nasser Al Suwaidi, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, and Mubarak Rashid Al Mansoori, Chief Executive Officer of the EIA. Under the agreement, the EIA is set to initiate constructing of the mint, as well as provisioning it with the proper advanced equipment. The two parties agreed to form an administrative committee to coordinate and supervise the work on specifications, standards, designs and security features. The committee will also establish the requirements and standards for outlining and minting the currency notes.
Most countries in the Arab world have their currency notes and other kinds of security papers in France, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Currently, the dirham is being printed in the UK and France. Now the launching of the project is welcomed by various members of industries and business and finance experts. According to Sudhir Shetty, CEO of UAE Exchange, this is definitely a positive step to becoming independent in this area. There will be more control and various cost- and logistics-related advantages. In addition to the growing demand within the country for printing UAE currency notes domestically, there is also a strong market in the Middle East and the GCC region, according to business experts.
