The IMF Spring Meetings 2022 with a session on CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies And Financial Inclusion) and Financial Inclusion was held virtually on Thursday 14 April 2022. The session brought together policymakers who were looking into issuing or had already issued a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The session also concentrated on the intersection between CBDCs and financial inclusion. The discussion also talked about how CBDCs affected access to and usage of financial services. Other topics such as the extent of financial inclusion as an important driver of the decision to issue a CBDC was also discussed. The panellists also discussed how countries were designing or planning to design CBDCs with financial inclusion in mind. The panellists also shared their early experiences regarding the implementation of CBDC. The discussion was moderated by Maria Soledad Martinez Peria (Research Department) and Martin Cihak (Strategy, Policy, & Review Department) from the IMF.
The panel consisted of the following stalwarts:
Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, Bank of Mauritius, Governor
Mr. Harvesh Kumar Seegolam was appointed as Governor of the Bank of Mauritius with effect from the 1st of March 2020 by the President of the Republic of Mauritius, in accordance with Section 13 of the Bank of Mauritius Act 2004, and upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Seegolam was the Chief Executive of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) since July 2017. In his previous position, he spearheaded numerous national initiatives on the development and regulation of financial services.
Cleopatra Davis, Central Bank of The Bahamas, Manager, Banking Department
Cleopatra Davis is the Head of Banking, at the Central Bank of The Bahamas, where she has oversight of payments operations, foreign investments, and domestic debt market activities. She serves on a number of the Central Bank’s committees including Deputy Chair of the Investment Committee and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee. She also served as co-chair of the Sand Dollar, central bank digital currency (CBDC) project committee. Previously, she served as the Chief Audit Executive at the Central Bank of The Bahamas from 2009 – 2017.
Hakima El Alami, Bank Al-Maghrib, Head, Payment Systems and Instruments Oversight and Financial Inclusion Department
Ms. Hakima El Alami has been with bank Al-Maghrib since 1997. She is the current Director of Payment Systems and Instruments Oversight and Financial Inclusion Department responsible for conducting national strategies related to payment systems and financial inclusion. The Department is also in charge of implementing of regulation and oversight framework of FMIs and means of payment.
Hassan Mahmud, Central Bank of Nigeria, Director, Monetary Operations
Dr. Mahmud is the Director of the Monetary Policy Department in the Central Bank of Nigeria. In that capacity, he coordinates the technical inputs for formulation, design and implementation of monetary policy decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as the dissemination of the monetary policy outcomes to the economy. Dr. Mahmud currently serves as the Secretary of the Central Bank Monetary Policy Committee.
