British currency in the Middle East already risen in value against the pound sterling as a result of sterling's devaluation in 1967, and so the new Omani rial was not equal in value to the dinars in the nearby territories. The currency units that are used in Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, and the Yemen are all descended from the pound sterling unit, while the currency units that are used in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates are all descended from the Maria Theresa Thaler. This largely explains the factor of ten difference in value on average between Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman on
Local currency more widely criticized as having limited success in stimulating spending in local economies, and as an unrealistic strategy to reduce carbon emissions. Modern local currencies can be classified into the following distinct types: 1. Transition currency based on the local currencies used by the Transition Towns movement in the UK. They include Brixton Pound and Bristol Pound in the UK, BerkShares in the USA, and Salt Spring Dollars in Canada. Transition currencies are payment voucher-based systems that are exchangeable with the national currency. Between 2002-2014 many experiments in local currency took this form. Such currencies aim to raise the resilience