• Georgia’s central bank, the National Bank of Georgia, is planning to launch a digital lari pilot in the first half of 2023.
• The NBG will release a whitepaper to allow potential partners to make their proposals for the pilot.
• The purpose of the digital lari is to ensure financial and price stability and enable better access to digital technologies.
The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) is preparing to launch trials for its digital lari project in the first half of 2023. In order to facilitate this, the bank will release a whitepaper detailing the concept of a national digital currency, allowing potential partners to offer their proposals for the pilot.
The decision to move forward with the digital lari project was made in order to ensure financial and price stability, as well as to allow better access to digital technologies. Deputy Governor Papuna Lezhava stated that the NBG has already approved several alternative approaches to testing the digital incarnation of the Georgian lari. He added that the technical characteristics of the digital lari will be evaluated during the test phase.
The NBG is currently in the process of selecting a winning partner for the project. Once the partner is selected, the two parties will discuss the timeline for implementation. Lezhava noted that the pilot version of the central bank digital currency will be relatively limited, and the NBG will assess its success before deciding whether to move forward with the project.
The digital lari project is an important step forward for the Georgian economy, as it will enable the country to embrace digital technologies and ensure financial and price stability. The NBG is expected to release the whitepaper in the coming months, and the pilot is expected to launch in the first half of 2023.