CBDCs in Emerging Market Economies

In preparation for a meeting of emerging market economy (EME) Deputy Governors organised by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the BIS surveyed 26 central banks and received papers relating to their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) work from 24 – see the end of this summary for details. The BIS has issued a paper ¹ summarising where the seven South American, nine Asian-Pacific, five European and three Middle Eastern and African are on CBDCs.

Motivation for CBDCs

No country is the same and the data showed a wide range of views and status in preparation and thinking about CBDCs. For example while China is almost ready to launch a CBDC and Hong Kong, Saudia Arabia, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates are ready to carry out pilot or proof of concept work, Poland and Singapore do not see the need for one.