The chair of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus said that the bank is currently building a “demo version” of a CBDC and “a platform to try it out,” according to reporting in Belta. Belarus is therefore considered to be in the pilot phase.

Belarus received an 8 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. Unfortunately, there are many concerns regarding the treatment of human rights and civil liberties in Belarus. When it comes to the issuance or use of a CBDC, however, the most relevant issues are the use of widespread surveillance and the persistence of government corruption. A CBDC could worsen both issues.

“Authorities used a wide variety [of] illegal surveillance methods and other forms of unlawful privacy violations to control dissent and free speech, and to monitor opposition groups, activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens,” according to the U.S. State Department. Unfortunately, a CBDC could be used to greatly expand surveillance by putting financial records on government databases by default.

It was also reported that “the number of prosecuted corruption cases was on the rise, and in January-June, 336 were convicted, of whom 112 were imprisoned, compared with 259 persons convicted in 2021.” Reports also indicated that individuals connected to President Alexander Lukashenko, “received preferential treatment from his regime in the form of monopolies, tax breaks, favorable contracts, and other mechanisms, often codified by presidential decrees signed by Lukashenka himself.” The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.