The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) signed agreements with three Arab central banks in five days. It renewed an AED 5 billion currency swap with Egypt on 29 September, signed a cooperation memorandum with Syria on 2 October and signed two memorandums with Morocco’s Bank Al-Maghrib on 3 October.
The Morocco agreements carry the most for payments. One covers banking supervision and Islamic finance. The other commits both central banks to explore linking their instant payment platforms, national card switches and financial messaging systems, so that payments between the two countries settle faster and each country’s domestic cards work in the other. It also covers sharing work on retail and wholesale central bank digital currencies, and on rules for crypto-assets and stablecoins.
Abdellatif Jouahri, governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, said,
“The partnership opens opportunities to explore ways to use central bank digital currencies in payments between the two countries.”
A third payment link on paper
Morocco is the third country the CBUAE has agreed to explore payment links with. In April it signed a memorandum with the Philippines’ central bank covering the integration of instant payment platforms and, later, card switches and messaging systems.
India came first. The two countries signed agreements in 2023 and 2024 to connect India’s Unified Payments Interface with the UAE’s instant payment platform, Aani. In February 2026, Al Etihad Payments, the CBUAE subsidiary that runs Aani, to build the gateway connecting Aani to foreign payment systems, with India’s UPI as the first corridor. The link has not yet been announced as live.
Neither the CBUAE nor Bank Al-Maghrib has named the Moroccan system that would connect to Aani or given a timeline.
Egypt swap renewed at Dh5 billion
The Egypt deal renews a swap first signed in 2023 for another five years, at the same Dh5 billion ($1.36 billion), . A swap line lets each central bank obtain the other’s currency directly to support trade settled in local currencies.
Khaled Mohamed Balama, the CBUAE governor, said the renewal “marks a significant step forward in our efforts to promote greater use of local currencies.” The UAE has larger lines with Bahrain (Dh20 billion) and China (Dh18 billion). Neither central bank has said how much of the Egypt line has been drawn since 2023.
Bilateral trade between the UAE and Egypt reached $9.7 billion in 2025, up 62% on the year before.
Syria’s agreement is broader and vaguer
The Syria memorandum lists cooperation on payment systems, fintech, financial inclusion, credit information, licensing and enforcement, according to the government statement. It names no project or timeline.
Syria is trying to rebuild its banking sector and reconnect with correspondent banks. Its central bank governor, Mohammad Safwat Abdel Hamid Raslan, said in September that foreign capital for new banks was expected to exceed $1 billion.
Of the five days of agreements, only the Egypt swap is an operating facility. The payment links with India, the Philippines and Morocco are commitments to build or explore, and the India one has taken more than three years to reach the gateway-building stage.
