Qatar Central Bank (QCB) finalized the infrastructure development for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and launched the first pilot test phase where the digital Qatari riyal will be tested in the context of large cross-border payments.
Qatar Central Bank (QCB) reported the successful completion of infrastructure development for the CBDC pilot project and readiness to move forward with testing the digital government currency.
The pilot project will focus on using CBDCs to increase access to international capital markets for local banks, improve domestic settlement, and enhance the efficiency of securities transactions. Specifically, QCB plans to develop and test several CBDC applications as part of the first phase of the pilot test, which will run until October 2024. These will be used to make pilot payments of large sums of money between local and international banks.
Under the first phase, QCB will focus on exploring and testing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enhance the liquidity of the local financial market and test various security options for the CBDC.
All pilot tests involving Qatari CBDC will take place within the framework of Express Sandbox, a regulatory FinTech sandbox, the launch of which QCB announced the other day.
Qatar’s central bank began studying CBDCs in 2022. The final decision to issue a digital state currency hasn’t yet been made, and the use of cryptocurrencies in the country is prohibited at the legislative level.
