The GCC Committee of Governors of Monetary Institutions and Central Banks held the 74th meeting on Wednesday, 1 April 2020, via video communication. The meeting was chaired by HE Mubarak Rashed Al Mansoori, Governor of the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, with the participation of their Excellencies, Governors of the Monetary Institutions and Central Banks in the GCC States participated in it, and HE Dr. Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf, the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The meeting's agenda included a number of issues, among them the most important and recent measures taken by Member States to address the economic consequences of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) and its financial impact on the banking sector. The meeting also discussed the recommendations of the committees and working groups under the Governors Committee on the issues of the payment systems in the GCC States, developments in the Gulf Payments Company, the supervision and control over the banking system in the GCC states, technology in the GCC financial sector, and integrative initiatives in this field.

The committee also discussed the importance of exchanging cybersecurity information for the banking sector in light of the growing cyber risks and increasing challenges, and the efforts made by the GCC States in the context of combating money laundering and terrorist financing and other issues of monetary importance, and reviewed the financial and monetary situation in the GCC States and exchanged opinions on it.

The GCC Governors of Monetary Institutions and Central Banks also stressed the need for auditors to exercise the flexibility available in the accounting standard IFRS-9, given that the previous assumptions no longer reflect the credit risk level today and in the future.

They also stressed the need for funding agencies to work with auditors to conduct a balanced and rational accounting treatment of deferred installments, taking into account the support from the GCC states and the current economic situation. And that the incentive measures taken by the GCC States, in particular, provide support programs to reschedule the facilities and what some member states have done to postpone the payment of the due installments without additional costs, fees, or benefits / profits that will not automatically increase the credit risk in light of the precautionary standards in effect.

They emphasized the strength of the GCC banking sector and its ability to face challenges and crises and that they closely monitor the effects of potential repercussions with the aim of staving off risks and taking the required measures.