South African Central Bank Opts Against Publishing CBDC Study Findings

The South African Reserve Bank has reportedly decided not to unveil the findings of the initial phase of its central bank digital currency feasibility study. Instead, the central bank said it is currently focused on the second phase of the study and will release a report once it is satisfied with the progress made in this area.

Initial Findings Required More Work

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has reportedly decided against releasing the findings of an initial phase of its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) feasibility study, which concluded in late 2022. According to a report, the findings “required significantly more work,” hence the decision was made not to publish them.

As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the SARB commenced its general-purpose retail central bank digital currency feasibility study sometime in May 2021. Prior to that, the SARB had conducted the Project Khokha study, which focused on the settlement of high-value transactions between commercial banks and other stakeholders at the wholesale level.

While the two studies were expected to “result in better policy alignment and coordination,” the South African central bank insisted at the time that it had not made a definitive decision on launching the CBDC.

SARB to Explore Digitization for Two More Years

Meanwhile, the SARB stated that despite its failure to release the findings, the feasibility study has already laid the groundwork for the next phase.

“This laid the basis for the work we are currently busy with in the second phase of this initiative. We do, however, intend to publish a report once we are satisfied with the progress made in this area,” the SARB reportedly said.

According to a Mybroadband report, the central bank has decided to continue exploring the feasibility of digitizing money in the next two years. The South African central bank has also launched the second phase of its Project Khokha, which is said to be focused on wholesale CBDCs and stablecoins.

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