Montenegro is in the pilot phase. The Central Bank of Montenegro announced that it is working to develop a pilot program to test CBDCs with Ripple, according to reporting in Coin Desk.

Montenegro earned a 67 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. Montenegro has many problems spanning reports of torture to intimidation. When it comes to the issuance or use of a CBDC, however, the most relevant issue is the persistence of government corruption. A CBDC could worsen this issue.

Corruption remains a significant problem in Montenegro. The U.S. Department of State reported that although the law provides penalties for officials engaged in corruption, the government did not implement the law effectively. Freedom House similarly reported that “Corruption and cronyism remain widespread” and “reports have consistently questioned the integrity, credibility, impartiality, independence, accountability, and priority-setting of [Montenegro’s] Anti-Corruption Agency.” 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.