Turkey has been researching a digital currency since 2019, but efforts are intensifying against the backdrop of high inflation.
While Turkey’s inflation rate is now in double digits , Naci Agbal, the governor of Turkey’s central bank, has now announced that basic research on a country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been completed and that first practical tests are in the second half in 2021.
„There is a research project for a digital currency,“ as Agbal confirms according to two Turkish news portals
To this end, he adds: “The concept development has already been completed. We want to start the first pilot tests in the second half of 2021. “
Agbal’s confirmation is a bit of a surprise, although Turkey has been researching its own Bitcoin Rush since mid-2019 . However, tests would have to be a digital Turkish lira in the coming year actually even a little late, because as Minister Erdogan in November 2019 announced , had first tests should take place at the end to the 2020th
The progress on CBDC comes at a time when Turkey’s central bank is struggling with inflation rates of up to 14%
Agbal, who was appointed the new head of the central bank just last month, announced last week that his institute was “determined” to bring inflation back down and achieve an annual rate below 10%.
As previously reported, Turkey is one of the countries that is most interested in the introduction of its own digital currency, as the population seems to be very willing. Almost 20% of the Turkish population are said to have money in the form of crypto currencies. However, new figures suggest that this figure is calculated a little too optimistically .