Central Bank of Turkey Plans to Launch a CBDC in 2023

This article is adapted from CoinDesk Turkiye. Follow CoinDesk Turkiye on Twitter.

Turkey is poised to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) next year.

Turkey’s Presidential Annual Program for 2023, presented on Monday by the Presidential Strategy and Budget Directorate, contains the discussion of a central bank digital currency.

The announcement came a year after Turkey's central bank announced in September 2021 that it was considering issuing a CBDC to complement its existing payments infrastructure, in a project entitled “Central Bank Digital Turkish Lira Research and Development.”

The Balance of Payments section of the program, under the sub-heading of Policies and Measures, stated that a “blockchain-based central bank digital currency will be put into practice.” The responsible institution is Turkey’s central bank, with the cooperation of the local Ministry of Finance and Scientific and Technological Research Institution.

“The Digital Turkish Lira system will be integrated with digital identity and FAST,” the official report stated. FAST is a payment system operated by the Turkish central bank.

The report also stated that the Turkish central bank will carry out the research and development efforts and testing of its CBDC in collaboration with other banks.

Read more: ‘Basically a Savior’: Why Crypto Is So Popular in Turkey