Issam Qadamani

The Jordanian digital dinar already exists and is in use. What remains is its official launch.

Standards such as money supply or what is known as liquidity are no longer relevant, and the circulation of physical dinar notes is no longer an indicator of liquidity or its availability.

Such standards need to be reviewed, and I believe the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) will no longer need them in its main indicators, and if it keeps them, they will be nothing more than reference points.

Electronic payment tools have become the real barometer of liquidity. Before long, physical dinar notes will largely disappear from daily transactions. Money is already moving digitally through payment platforms, shifting seamlessly from one bank account to another without ever passing through anyone’s hands.

Today, 84 per cent of all payment transactions in Jordan are conducted electronically. Cash transactions account for just 16 per cent, reflecting a clear shift toward a cashless society.

In 2024, electronic payments recorded a total value of JD39.66 billion, across 218 million transactions.

The economy, increasingly fluid and fast-moving, is undergoing a transformation that could mark the end of the cash era and the rise of digital currencies.

Against this backdrop, talk of a liquidity crisis seems misplaced. The sharp increase in mobile-based electronic payments tells a different story: the number of transactions surged 213 per cent, while their value jumped 571 per cent compared with last year. Meanwhile, domestic liquidity in banks exceeds $52 billion, with only $8.5 billion circulating as physical cash.

In any case, liquidity refers to the narrow definition of the money supply, which equals the cash (paper) currency circulating outside the banking system plus current accounts in banks, and it includes time deposits and deposits on notice.

Considering all this, it means that the Jordanian economy enjoys high liquidity, which continues to increase to meet growing needs.

The government’s move to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for virtual assets marks a significant step in building Jordan’s digital economy. It aligns with earlier initiatives, including the formation of the Council for Future Technology under the Economic Modernisation Plan.

The CBJ entered the digital-currency arena early, and work on issuing a digital dinar is well underway. Monetary and fiscal policies will need to adapt to whatever the next phase brings—be it inflation, recession, or the accelerating expansion of digital finance.

The digital dinar is already here, and it is quietly circulating through the veins of the Jordanian economy.