Although the monetary authorities in the Sultanate of Oman had two years ago cautioned against trading in cryptocurrencies due to their volatility, as well as risks associated cyber theft and fraud, it appears they are charting a new course for dealing virtual currencies for the foreseeable future.
A few days ago, Taher bin Salim al Amri, Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman, was quoted as saying that the bank wants to develop its own digital currency and start providing open banking services. This came within the framework of the 7th New Age Banking Summit Oman, where banking sector executives presented new business models to meet the evolving needs of next generation customers, thereby opening up new growth paths and enhancing the level of efficiency in operation and performance.
The Omani banking sector has been organising many events to discuss issues of interest to banks, money markets and monetary policy, but the future will focus on new trends and developments to facilitate more modern banking transactions and instant payments.
The recent conference discussed many themes, including the developments of the financial economic system in light of the digital age, and the readiness of Omani banks to deal with digital currencies through the adoption of a new banking strategy based on innovation products and services that help the organisations reach customers through digital platforms, while working to combat cyber risks. Most of the participants in this event were experts in banking, financial technology, investment, insurance and consultants in these fields.
The desire of the Capital Market Authority, the CBO and other financial authorities to regulate virtual assets in addition to issuing a virtual currency by the Central Bank comes in the wake of a tender floated several months ago for specialised companies interested in assisting Oman in developing a regulatory framework for virtual assets. This confirms a change in the longstanding position of authorities to frown upon virtual currencies which some people have been rushing to acquire at high prices. But the virtual currency that will be issued by the Central Bank will have a fixed price to guard against risks and unfair competition.
Today, there is a great of obsession with virtual currencies in a number of countries of the world, including the Gulf area, due to the increasing spread of digital currencies, which achieve record gains for some in short periods of time, while on the flipside, make some impoverished. The Sultanate of Oman is not the only country that is considering issuing a virtual currency by its Central Bank, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE have announced to work together to study the issuance of a digital currency that will be acceptable in cross-border transactions between the two countries as a result of this great interest in it.
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