The Bank of Mexico wants to have its own digital currency circulating sometime in the next two years, in an effort to foster financial inclusion in a cash-heavy country, according to published reports.
The president of Mexico’s central bank, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, said on Twitter it is important “to use these new technologies and latest-generation payments infrastructure as valuable options to advance financial inclusion in the country.”
A great number of transaction in Mexico happen with cash, especially due to the large informal economy, which makes up around a fifth of the country’s GDP.
Speaking at an International Monetary Fund event last summer, Bank of Mexico Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon said central banks need to move faster in developing CBDCs and other new forms of money to offset the risks posed by cryptocurrencies.
The report comes just as Jamaica’s central bank announced it’s on track to launch a CBDC in the first quarter of the year.
As PYMNTS reported Monday (Jan. 3), the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) concluded its eight-month CBDC pilot at the end of 2021, minting 230 million Jamaican dollars ($1.5 million) in CBDC to issue to deposit-taking institutions and authorized payment service providers, along with another 1 million JMD ($6,500) in digital currency to staffers.
The first CDBC, known as the Sand Dollar, was launched in the Bahamas in October 2020. Last week, the Bahamas’ central bank announced it had begun working with banks, credit unions and other payment providers on a plan to “eliminate all use of domestic cheques by the end of 2024.”
The Central Bank of the Bahamas says it will also consult with the public to ensure the plan provides results that are “efficient, financially inclusive and supportive of further development of the domestic financial system and economy.”
