Qatar central bank’s governor Sheikh Bandar has revealed the plan to issue the digital variant of the national currency. The bank is looking for the right technology and evaluating the pros and cons of this initiative.
The plan is still under consideration and nothing is formalized yet. Central banks of many countries are considering to launch their CBDC. Governor Bandar recently claimed that Qatar Central bank is also considering to launch CBDC but the project is currently at the evaluation stage. The bank is evaluating the benefits and drawbacks of such a move. It is also looking for the best technology suitable for issuing CBDC.
He discussed the merits of cryptocurrencies. These assets are a technology innovation and have the potential to increase accessibility to financial services in a cheap and fast way. He warned that crypto assets not controlled by any institutional monetary authority lacked credibility.
It should be noted though that similar positive view of digital assets is not held by the Qatar Investment Authority. However, its CEO has expressed interest in the underlying blockchain technology used in the crypto sector. The organization is interested mainly in the opportunities offered by blockchain, and not the cryptocurrencies.
The Central bank of Qatar expressed its plans to digitize its products from March early this year. The investment body has been studying different verticals and aspects of fintech. Digital banks have seen excellent growth in recent years. Central banks have to evaluate the pros and cons of such banks if they want to adopt new technologies to improve their services.
