CBE seeking to launch government-issued E-Pound to boost LE’s competitiveness – Egypt Today

CBE seeking to launch government-issued E-Pound to boost LE’s competitiveness – Egypt Today

Cairo – January 9, 2024: Egypt’s central bank is preparing to issue a digital pound titled E-Pound by 2030, according to the government’s strategy for the new presidential term (2024-2030), but did not disclose further details on its implementation, timeline, or potential policies.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) aims to strengthen monetary policy efficiency and the Egyptian pound’s competitiveness, as well as better enable the bank to utilize opportunities created by the digital transformation boom to improve the country’s financial sector.

Central Banks' Digital Currencies (CBDC) have gained momentum in the past few years, with six central banks having launched their own in recent years.

A digital form of a government-issued currency that is issued and regulated by a country’s central bank, CBDCs are considered the digital equivalent of physical cash and offer a variety of benefits.

CBDCs enable the government to increase transparency, reduce transaction costs, and enhance monetary policy tools for central banks, providing stronger levels of security and consumer protection compared to cryptocurrencies or other decentralized digital money.

A digital currency differs from UPIs (Unified Payments Interfaces) such as the CBE’s Instant Payment Network which allows instant transfer of money between bank accounts, and mobile money - which utilizes already available