After the creation of the United Arab Emirates in 1971, a ‘Currency Board’ was established in May 1973, as per Union Law No. (2) of 1973. The Currency Board was mandated to issue the national currency that replaced the Bahraini Dinar and the Qatari and Dubai Riyal currencies in use at the time.
The UAE Dirham went into circulation in May 1973. Within weeks, other currencies in use were replaced by the UAE Dirham, at the rate of one UAE Dirham to a Qatari/Dubai Riyal and ten UAE Dirhams to a Bahraini Dinar.
The main responsibility of the Central Bank is formulation and implementation of banking, credit and monetary policies, to ensure the growth of the national economy of the UAE in a balanced manner.
The Central Bank is also woking to maintain a fixed exchange rate of the dirham against the U.S. dollar and to ensure the free convertibility of the national currency into foreign currencies, in addition to its role as "Bank of Banks" and the Government's bank and its financial adviser.
