Alik Shpekbayev, the Chairman of the Anti-corruption Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan, has called on the government to develop a national digital currency to fight corruption in the country.
On July 21, it has been reported that the chairman said national digital currencies like China’s digital yuan should contribute to a more transparent financial system.
However, according to the official, an implementation of the national digital currency should inevitably reduce transactions in cash, which is one of the major tools for an illicit activity like bribery.
Shpekbayev said that Kazakhstan’s digital tenge has the potential to prevent corruption at the governmental level as it will provide “full transparency in the movement of budgetary funds during public procurement.”
The official reportedly continued that the adoption of the national digital currency will allow to significantly reducing transaction costs.
Shpekbayev argued:
“As soon as the digital tenge is implemented successfully, we will be able to forget about transaction fees.”
Likewise, he mentioned China’s ongoing digital currency pilot by warning the government officials that Kazakhstan is running the risk of being too late with its own national cryptocurrency.
As per the report, the latest news comes soon after Kazakhstan officials presented a plan of the national digital currency development in early July. Particularly, the country plans to double digital currency mining investment by the end of 2020 as well as to push the development of its central bank digital currency (CBDC).
Local official says that a national digital currency will allow Kazakhstan to get rid of #corruption https://t.co/uDDA8fP1nt — Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) July 21, 2020
The country is now apparently established as a major global mining hub due to low electricity prices.
According to local reports, Kazakhstan aims to attract about $740 million in investment from crypto-related mining activities over the next three years.
Thus, Kazakhstan has also been progressing with cryptocurrency regulation.
Source: Cointelegraph | Image: Egemen Qazaqstan