Speaking at a conference in Morocco, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced that the agency started working on the concept of a global central bank digital currency (CBDC) platform. The platform will allow CBDC transactions between countries, preventing CBDCs from being fragmented across nations. Georgieva has stated that transactions would need systems connecting countries to become more efficient and fairer. - The IMF official also said they want central banks to agree upon a common regulatory framework for CBDCs that would allow global interoperability, and there would be a gap to be filled by cryptocurrencies otherwise.
- The managing director added that 114 central banks are currently exploring CBDCs, and ten have already crossed the finish line.
- Besides, Georgieva counted several benefits of CBDCs, such as financial inclusion and cheaper remittances, adding that the average cost of money transfers currently stands at $44B per year.
- The agency official also underlined that cryptocurrencies are an investment opportunity if they are backed by assets, as in CBDCs, defining non-backed tokens as speculative investments.
The IMF, which currently has 190 member countries, is a major financial agency of the United Nations (UN). - In April, the agency's deputy managing director, Bo Li, announced their plans to release a CBDC handbook to guide countries in developing CBDCs, citing heavy demand.
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