The central bank of Pakistan considers a CBDC scenario
10-21-2021According to the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Reza Baqir, the institution is attentively assessing the potential provided by central bank digital currencies. The governor added that nations such as China and Russia are "already paving the way" in terms of CBDC issuing:
“The benefit for us is twofold: Not only does [potential CBDC issuance] give another boost to our efforts for financial inclusion but, second, if the central bank issues a digital currency, it allows us to make further progress in our fight towards Anti-Money Laundering, towards countering terrorism financing. So, we are at a stage where we are studying it. We hope to be able to make an announcement on that in the coming months.”
According to Baqir, the central bank has already approved a framework for digital banking in the nation, which might include challenger or neobanks.
According to Pakistan's Information technology and internet minister, Shafik Baqir, the country is "waiting to explode" in terms of digitalization. According to him, the country boasts the fifth-largest concentration of individuals with high levels of digital literacy in the world.
Baqir further stated that during the coronavirus epidemic, the central bank eliminated costs on interbank transfers, resulting in a 150–200% increase in mobile banking transactions for the quarter ending in December 2020 as compared to the previous year.
The State Bank of Pakistan said in April 2019 that it intends to issue a CBDC by 2025. Meanwhile, as previously noted, regional Pakistani politicians have been lobbying for greater action on the decentralized digital currency front, with a resolution recently approved in the nation's northwest calling on the government to allow cryptocurrency mining in the country.
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