- Turkey set to pilot undisclosed CBDC project in the second quarter of 2021.
- Turkey’s President believes the project would bolster the economy of the country.
Turkey would begin to integrate its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) project by 2021. This was disclosed by Naci Ağbal, the Governor of the Central Bank of Turkey.
The Central Bank chief told members of the country’s parliament that the Central Bank would start working on the undisclosed CBDC project by the second quarter of next year. This disclosure puts Turkey amongst the numbers of countries that have begun working on a national digital currency.
The Bank for International Settlement, which is mostly known as “the bank for Central Banks,” however, currently does not have a record of Turkey working on any CBDC project presently.
According to a local news site, Koin Bülteni, Turkey’s Central Bank had hired experts who major in digital currency for its research and development purpose. The report however failed to give more details about the CBDC project.
With this announcement, Turkey joins a long list of nations who have begun working on a CBDC project to complement their national currency. Countries like China, Bahamas, Japan and a number of others have already begun working on their national digital currency.
Turkey President in Support of the CBDC Project
After Turkey’s national currency suffered a massive decline in 2018, Turkey’s President, Recep Erdogan, has been trying to avoid a similar recurrence and has resolved to improve the country’s economy.
One of the ways he has chosen to do this is through the creation of a digital currency. A national publication, Resmi Gazete, has earlier disclosed that the President had given directives for the country to finish setting up preparations for its own digital currency before the end of 2020.
According to the publication, the CBDC project would be able to offer financial instruments that can attract global investors to the country thereby improving the country’s economy in the long run.
