Papua New Guinea CBDC Tracker

Papua New Guinea is in the research phase, but it will likely soon enter the pilot phase.

CBDC History and Development

In 2024, the company Soramitsu announced it would soon conduct a CBDC pilot with the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea.

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

Papua New Guinea earned a 61 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. According to reports, significant human rights abuses include unlawful or arbitrary killings by police, torture, and more. However, the most relevant concern when it comes to the issuance or use of a CBDC is that of corruption.

According to Freedom House, “Corruption is pervasive and remains the most important hindrance to development” in Papua New Guinea. The U.S. State Department reported that “Corruption was a problem in part due to weak public institutions and governance, lack of transparency, politicization of the bureaucracy, and the social pressure of traditional clan obligations.” 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.