Tanzania plans ‘cautious’ central bank digital currency launch
Tanzania’s central bank said it’s working toward a “phased, cautious and risk-based” introduction of a digital currency for the East African nation.
The Bank of Tanzania “will continue to monitor, research and collaborate with stakeholders, including other central banks, in the efforts to arrive at a suitable and appropriate use and technology for issuance of Tanzanian shillings in digital form,” it said in a statement on its website.
The bank gave no time frame for when its deliberations might be complete or when a launch could be expected.
The central bank said its researchers were exploring the issuance of different forms of CBDCs, including tokenized and account-based digital currency.
The regulator said it was also studying risks and controls associated with issuance, distribution, counterfeit and usage of digital currencies.
The Bank of Tanzania said its research had shown that six countries have scrapped their planned CBDC adoption so far, “mainly due to structural and technological challenges in the implementation phase.”
Challenges include the dominance of cash in making transactions and existence of inefficient payment systems, high implementation costs and risk of disrupting the existing financial ecosystem, it said.
