BEIJING: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) based cross-border payment system, BUNA, is all set to expand to include currencies from other countries, including Pakistan, China, India, and several African and European countries by 2024-25.
The system has already been introduced and connected to 108 live banks in 14 countries, and 105 more banks will initiate the process soon. Currently, six currencies, comprising the UAE dirham, Saudi riyal, Jordanian dinar, Egyptian pound, US dollar, and Euro, are part of the platform, processing real-time funds transfer cost-effectively.
“The inclusion of Pakistani currency in the payment system would help to improve the efficiency of cross-border currency transactions in Pakistani banks and would also help boost Pakistan’s economy at the international level, Deputy Head of Department of Strategic Research, China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), Ren Haiping told China Economic Net.
UAE Payment System to Help Pakistan’s Financial Market
Haiping further said that in the context of the significance of financial infrastructure in curbing systemic financial risks, the cross-border payment system (Buna) could play a pivotal role in improving the financial market infrastructure of Pakistan and would also promote the business of local development of cross-border currency.
Last year, the government of Pakistan used RMB to pay for crude oil from Russia for the first time, which could be labeled as a significant impact on Pakistan’s economic development and the global economic procedure. The move not only simplified the transaction process but also helped reduce transaction costs.
“Currently, the US dollar dominates international trade, and many countries are flexing their muscles to challenge its monopoly and move for diversified currency settlement and reserve methods to reduce dependence on a single currency.
