FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Central Bank of Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Youssef Boudlal/File photo
RABAT (Reuters) -Morocco's central bank was exploring the use of its own digital currency for peer-to-peer and cross border payments, bank governor Abdellatif Jouahri said on Monday.
A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is controlled by the central bank, in contrast to cryptocurrencies that are usually decentralised.
Cryptocurrencies have been banned in Morocco since 2017, but the public continues to use them underground, circumventing restrictions.
The bank has been working with the IMF and the World Bank to assess the payment system impacts of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), Jouahri told a conference in Rabat.
The Moroccan central bank, together with its Egyptian peer and the World Bank, was also exploring the use of the CBDC for cross-border transfers, he said.
A draft law on crypto assets is currently under review by the finance ministry before entering the adoption process, Jouahri said last month.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
