The National Bank of Georgia announced earlier this week that it is thinking of launching its own digital currency (CBDC).
The bank believes that this move towards cryptocurrency will make the payment service more efficient through new technologies. The CBDC of Georgia will be used for payments or as a value that can be stored in personal accounts.
The national bank has encouraged financial and technology institutions to participate in the project and explore the possibilities and disadvantages of a CBDC. The purpose is to find the technological and financial solutions for its implementation.
“NBG is inviting technology firms, fintech companies, and interested financial institutions to join efforts to explore the frontiers of financial technology and solve technological, regulatory, and financial issues facing CBDC adoption through a public-private-partnership (PPP).”
One of the bank’s major purposes is to keep the price and the economy stable.
“NBG has the mandate to maintain price and financial stability. The key instrument through which these policies are maintained is central bank money – the Georgian Lari (GEL). The rise of digital technologies underscores the necessity to update central bank money – by creating a digital version of the GEL – to better serve the digital economy and increase public policy efficiency.”
Read more about the project of the National Bank of Georgia here!
Georgia is yet another country that is making a tangible move to issue a central bank digital currency. Nations all over the world have been exploring the subject. The Bank of England has taken a similar step as well in April, creating a Taskforce to explore the possibility of establishing a digital pound. Asia is certainly forward when it comes to CBDCs. Banks in Cambodia, China, or Thailand are already testing them.
