Jamaica outlines CBDC launch timeline

Jamaica plans to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said.

The Bank of Jamaica will roll out our own digital Jamaican dollar in 2022 after a successful pilot during 2021.

— Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) February 10, 2022

“The Bank of Jamaica will roll out its own digital Jamaican dollar in 2022 after a successful pilot project in 2021,” wrote Holness.

According to him, this will form the backbone for the architecture of digital payments and will help “expand access to financial services, increase transaction speeds while lowering the cost of banking services” for citizens.

Earlier in March 2021, the country’s finance minister Nigel Clarke said that the government vital to restoring the economy after the pandemic.

In July, the Bank of Jamaica announced a pilot rollout of the CBDC system. The National Commercial Bank was the first participant in the tests.

In the following month, the regulator announced the release of the first tranche of the national digital currency as part of testing.

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