NEWS
The Central Bank of Qatar has successfully completed the development stages of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure. According to official reports, this initiative aims “to keep pace with the rapid global developments in this field.”
The CBDC project appears to focus on wholesale applications, with plans to begin testing its implementation in October 2024. This testing phase will involve national and international banks and will primarily handle large payment transactions in a trial environment.
The pilot program for Qatar’s CBDC will emphasize institutional adoption. The objectives include increasing access to capital markets for banks operating in Qatar, enhancing domestic settlement processes, and improving the efficiency of securities transactions.
This initiative is part of Qatar’s broader strategy to integrate new technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) to boost liquidity in financial capital markets while ensuring information security. The outcomes of the upcoming experimental phase will help identify the main use cases that the central bank will adopt to strengthen the Qatari financial system’s current capabilities.
Previously, the bank had expressed interest in exploring digital banks and CBDCs. In 2022, Alanood Abdullah Al Muftah, Head of the bank’s fintech division, noted that while the bank was studying these elements, the decision to issue a CBDC would be carefully considered after thorough examination of all relevant circumstances.
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