Muscat – The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) participated in the meeting of the Arab central banks to discuss the challenges and risks for the banking and financial sector.

Organised by the Arab Monetary Fund, the virtual meeting of 45th regular session of the Council of Arab Central Banks and monetary authorities’ governors saw the participation from central bank chiefs from the Arab countries.

H E Tahir Salim al Amri, executive president of the CBO led the delegation attending the meeting on behalf of the sultanate, according to a CBO statement.

In the meeting, the council discussed the economic, financial and monetary implications of COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of macro-prudential policies in dealing with these economic crises.

The meeting also reviewed the need to assess systemic risks in the financial sector in the wake of the emerging COVID-19 crisis and accordingly discussed ways and means to minimise such risks.

The council also made its observations with regard to the disparities in easing the macro-prudential policy tools between countries to mitigate the impact of the current crisis.

Other topics that came up for discussions during the central bankers’ meeting included deliberations on how to enhance the resilience of the financial and banking system, the role of Basel requirements in absorbing any potential financial risks or shocks, emerging trends in open finance and their implications on the traditional financial and banking institutions.

The central bank chiefs also reviewed the implications of climate change policies on banking and financial sector and pondered over the need to review existing banking legislations and regulatory requirements for the issuance of digital currencies.