Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Reza Baqir said Pakistan is seriously considering to introduce its own digital currency to expand banking facilities to the financially excluded segment of the society.

“We are studying introduction of a digital currency very carefully. It is at very initial stage and will take time to come up with a firm plan,” Dr Baqir said in response to a question raised by leading businessman Imran Chaudhry.

Referring to the example of other leading central banks including the People’s Bank of China, Bank of Japan and European Central Bank, the SBP governor said Pakistan has joined the digital currency race a bit late and currently doing some studies that will pave the way for digital units in future.

“We are doing a comprehensive internal study to know what the other central banks around the world are doing on digital currencies. For now, we have allowed a framework for digital banks to begin operating in Pakistan,” Dr Baqir said.

“Chinese central bank started the work on digital currencies many years back and they are still able to launch a pilot project. We may take couple of years more to launch our digital currency in near future,” he added.

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