Dominican Republic CBDC Tracker

CBDC Information

CBDC Status

Research

Economic Information

GDP

$113,537,368,176

Population

11,332,972

Government Information

Form of Government

Electoral Democracy

Freedom Rankings

Cato and Fraser Human Freedom Index:

7.85/10

Freedom House Index:

6.8/10

Reporters Without Borders Freedom Index:

7.39/10

The Dominican Republic is in the research phase. According to a report by the International Monetary Fund, the Banco Central de la República Dominicana has been actively researching CBDCs since 2022.

CBDC History and Development

In August 2024, the International Monetary Fund published a report on its efforts to assess the implications of issuing a retail CBDC in the Dominican Republic. According to the report, the Banco Central de la República Dominicana has been actively researching CBDCs since 2022 and requested assistance from the International Monetary Fund in 2023. However, as of August 2024, there does not appear to be any information related to CBDCs on the Banco Central de la República Dominicana’s website. The International Monetary Fund ultimately recommended that the Banco Central de la República Dominicana continue its research.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

The Dominican Republic earned a 68 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. Immigration restrictions and corruption are major issues in the Dominican Republic. The issuance or adoption of a CBDC could worsen these issues.

According to Amnesty International, a 2013 ruling by the Constitutional Court “retroactively and arbitrarily deprived thousands of Dominicans of Haitian descent of their nationality.” Immigration policies may not immediately come to mind when considering the risks posed by CBDCs however surveillance capabilities of a CBDC should not be overlooked here. A CBDC could allow authorities to establish virtual checkpoints with every purchase.

Freedom House reported that “Corruption remains a serious, systemic problem at all levels of the government, judiciary, and security forces, as well as in the private sector.” 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.