The possibilities opened by Central Bank Digital Currencies, CBDC is being studied by the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan according to the Central Bank Governor, Reza Baqir.
Countries such as China are already showing the way when it comes to CBDC issuance and they are they are showing the motivations behind the central bank interest in CBDC.s according to Baqir in an interview with Julia Chatterley of CNN.
In the words of Baqir:
“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.”
Baqir added that the central bank has already given the green light for a framework within which digital banks can begin to operate in Pakistan, among them challenger or neobanks that don’t necessarily have a brick-and-mortar presence.