Thailand’s central bank, the Bank of Thailand will postpone its test of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) towards the end of next year. The trial was initially scheduled in Q2 of 2022, Reuters reported on Friday.
Thailand will take a careful approach in testing the digital currency “as it does have a problem with fund transfers or payments as some other countries,” Bank of Thailand Deputy Director Kasidit Tansanguan said.
Kasidit further said that the central bank discussed a retail CBDC with related parties several times and there are a lot of stakeholder requirements. As a result, the central bank needs to prepare the infrastructure and await the readiness of related parties before testing the digital baht in a closed loop late next year, leading to the delay,
The pilot, which central bank’s Assistant Governor Vachira Arromdee described as trying out an alternative payment method for “cash-like activities within a limited scale,” will involve around 10,000 users and will look at deposits, withdrawals and transfers.