Do CBDCs promote financial inclusion and strengthen the monetary regulations?

Digital currencies are impacting the financial lives of people and countries around the world; particularly developing countries see the retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) as an opportunity to increase financial inclusion and introduce new monetary policy implementation mechanisms. The decision to launch a digital currency mainly depends upon the goals and objectives being set by the Central Bank of any respective country. Digital currencies help to implement monetary policy more effectively to achieve the financial system stability. Kazakhstan is the leading economy in the Commonwealth of Independent States region; the digital payments market is changing rapidly in Kazakhstan, being driven by fintech innovations and public investments in payment technologies. In this article, we thoroughly discussed how launching of “Digital Tenge” is promoting financial inclusion and strengthening the monetary regulations across Kazakhstan. We took the case of Kazakhstan because it’s the first country from Central Asia which took the initiative of launching digital currency, and the National Bank of Kazakhstan has already announced that implementation of “Digital Tenge” would be completed in Kazakhstan by the end of 2025. The implementation of a “Digital Tenge” as a CBDC in Kazakhstan would expand the range of financial services being available to the nation. Having direct authority over the digital currency will empower the National Bank of Kazakhstan to adopt more efficient monetary policy, exerting influence over interest rates, money supply, and general economic stability. Furthermore, by providing digital financial services to marginalized communities, the digital Tenge would also help to solve the difficulties of financial inclusion in Kazakhstan. The article provides the possible policy routes for the governments of developing countries and the financial regulators about adopting CBDCs for promoting financial inclusion and to strengthen the monetary regulations.