Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced the country intends to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022. In particular, he has said:
"The Bank of Jamaica will roll out our own digital Jamaican dollar in 2022 after a successful pilot during 2021."
He has assured this will become the foundation of the digital payments architecture and will help "expand access to financial services, increase the speed of transactions and reduce the cost of banking services" for citizens.
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The country's finance minister, Nigel Clarke, said in March last year the government considered an accelerated transition to a digital society vital to the economy's post-pandemic recovery.
In July, the Central Bank of Jamaica announced a pilot implementation of a CBDC system. The first participant in the trials was the National Commercial Bank.