The world seems to be moving toward digital currency. And, the Reserve Bank of India is already considering a phased introduction of its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), deputy governor T. Rabi Shankar said, and is examining various issues including the underlying technology. China leads the space and has already started trials of a digital currency in several cities while the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of England are looking into it for a future launch.
“CBDCs are likely to be in the arsenal of every central bank going forward. Setting this up will require careful calibration and a nuanced approach in implementation,” Shankar said according to a speech released late on Thursday. According to a 2021 survey by the Bank for International Settlements, 86% central banks were actively researching the potential for CBDCs, 60% were experimenting with
RBI has been working on the idea of CBDC for years. Virtual currencies (VCs) like bitcoin have gained popularity in India in recent years and unofficial estimates suggest the country has around 15 million investors holding over 100 billion rupees ($1.34 billion) in crypto assets.
Sameer Narang, chief economist at Bank of Baroda said investors would still look to private digital currencies, which have appreciated in value despite recent falls.
“Some users may want to use the private digital currencies as store of value and not only for payments,” he added.
