Bank of Mexico planning to launch CBDC by 2024

The Bank of Mexico took to Twitter to announce their plans to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by 2024.

The announcement stated that the Banxico (Bank of Mexico) will have its own CBDC in circulation by 2024 as it considers “these technologies and state-of-art payments infrastructure as options of great value.”

El @Banxico informa que hacia 2024 tendrá una moneda digital propia en circulación, por considerar de suma importancia estas nuevas tecnologías y la infraestructura de pagos de última generación como opciones de gran valor para avanzar en la inclusión financiera en el país.

— Gobierno de México (@GobiernoMX) December 30, 2021

Bank of Mexico confirms plans to launch CBDC

According to the tweet originally written in Spanish, Banxico is planning to launch the CBDC, which will be in circulation by 2024. The tweet also stated that the decision has been made after considering “these new technologies and next-generation payment infrastructure are extremely important as options of great value to advance financial inclusions in the country.”

Earlier, Jonathan Heath, deputy governor of Banxico, while attending a video conference organized by S&P, had unveiled plans to introduce CBDCs by 2024, as reported by Mexican publication El CEO. 

The CBDC that Banxico will launch will presumably be pegged to the price of the Mexican peso and will be managed and administered on a digital ledger. 

CBDC popularity surge 

The term central bank digital currency refers to the virtual form of fiat currency. The concept has been gaining considerable momentum lately as it offers financial inclusion and simplifies the implementation of monetary and fiscal policies. As per the new CBDC tracker of the Atlantic Council, countries with over 90% of GDP are investigating the idea of implementing CBDCs. 

By confirming plans to launch CBDCs by 2024, Mexico will be joining other prominent nations that are in the process of introducing CBDCs like India, Nigeria, and China. 

Recently, the Bank of England also disclosed that it could launch its CBDC by 2030, followed by India, which is actively pursuing the idea of introducing CBDCs sometime soon.