IMF Mission Guides the Dominican Republic on a CBDC

In June and September 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided support to the Banco Central de la República Dominicana (BCRD) to explore CBDC.

The Dominican Republic (DR) has a well- developed national payment system. It has a national payment and securities settlement system (SIPARD) that processes large value payments in Dominican pesos (DOP) and US dollars and allows instant payments directly from users’ internet banking. The systems is also the core of a regional infrastructure (SIPA) which links the national payment systems of Costa Rica, DR, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.

BCRD also runs a check-clearing system and various closed-loop card, with mobile payment systems also operating in DR. Electronic payments are possible with a wide range of instruments – cards, credit transfers, direct debit, e-wallets, etc.