After a successful pilot last year, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the Bank of Jamaica will roll out the digital Jamaican dollar in 2022.
Jamaica will roll out the digital Jamaican dollar in 2022
According to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Jamaica, an island country in the Caribbean Sea, plans to start its CBDC this year. On February 10, the Jamaican official tweeted about the CBDC, saying, “After a successful trial in 2021, the Bank of Jamaica will put out its own digital Jamaican dollar in 2022.”
The announcement comes after a “successful” test conducted by the Jamaican central bank last year. The Bank of Jamaica announced towards the end of 2021 that three plans had been examined during the pilot phase.
Holness’ words reaffirmed that the CBDC was a success and that the digital currency will serve as the underlying infrastructure. “This will serve as the foundation for Jamaica’s digital payments infrastructure, facilitating greater financial inclusion, increasing transaction velocity, and lowering the cost of banking for Jamaicans,” Holness said. The Jamaican official went on to say: ”This is a big step in building a nation of Peace, Opportunity, and Prosperity.”
The forthcoming CBDC in Jamaica will join a select group of countries that have already deployed CBDCs, including China, Nigeria, and Venezuela. In the meantime, the European Commission said that a digital euro bill will be unveiled in 2023, and the Federal Reserve has released research and code for its CBDC project.
The Bank of Jamaica collaborated on the CBDC trial with National Commercial Bank (NCB) and a small number of wallet providers. Jamaica’s central bank issued around $230 million worth of the CBDC on August 9. In five years, Holness expects more than 70% of Jamaicans to have adopted the CBDC.
Sabrina Cooper, vice-president of retail banking at Sagicor Bank Jamaica, told the Jamaica Observer that the CBDC wallet will be used for more than merely leveraging the CBDC.
“You can have debit and credit cards in your digital wallet, not only the CBDC,” Cooper insisted. “If you look at what’s going on in the world, the wallet will resemble your physical wallet in your pocket or handbag.” It’ll accept CBDC or a digital currency cash equivalent, as well as credit cards and prepaid cards.”
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