Payments

IMF begins work on platform for central bank digital currencies

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June 20, 2023

The International Monetary Fund is developing a platform for central bank digital currencies, which would provide cross-border transactions. In particular, it wants central banks to have a common regulatory framework for CBDCs, according to a Reuters report.

"CBDCs should not be fragmented national propositions... To have more efficient and fairer transactions we need systems that connect countries: we need interoperability," Kristalina Georgieva, managing director, IMF, said during a conference in Rabat, Morroco, according to the news outlet. "For this reason at the IMF, we are working on the concept of a global CBDC platform."

Ideally, CBDCs could deliver cheaper remittances and promote more financial inclusion, Georgieva said. She also pointed out that if central banks didn't agree on a central platform, cryptocurrencies would fill the vacuum.

"If countries develop CBDCs only for domestic deployment we are underutilizing their capacity," she said.

Other central banks are moving forward with CBDCs, such as the Bank of England, which is seeking public feedback on how to design a digital pound.