The National Bank of Georgia, the country's central bank, intends to study the possibility of issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
According to the statement shared by the institution on Tuesday, the digital lari will have legal tender status. The Georgian central bank expects the project to increase the efficiency of the national payment system and financial inclusion.
The National Bank has asked tech and fintech companies, as well as interested financial institutions, to cooperate in the development of the digital currency. The regulator could create either a regulatory sandbox or a testing environment for companies working on the CBDC project.
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The currency should be easy to use and support the implementation of smart contracts and automatic payments, including "automatic tax accounting and tax collection for simple transactions."
The National Bank of Georgia has stressed the CBDC must comply with FATF directives on anti-money laundering and the European rules for personal data protection. In addition, it must allow the collection of statistical data while keeping the anonymity of users.