The lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, the State Duma, has passed the digital ruble bill in the third reading, making the legislation one step closer to becoming law. The bill mainly aims to establish a legal framework for the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC) ecosystem. The legislation was first introduced to the State Duma in December last year and passed through its first reading in March. - The lower house made the last changes to the bill at the end of June.
- The bill also determines the legal definitions of several terms, such as platform, participants, and users.
- The framework authorizes the Bank of Russia (BoR), the country's central bank, to operate and oversee the infrastructure of the digital ruble.
- The BoR sees the CBDC as a payment and transfer method rather than an investment instrument, which means that the CBDC users in Russia will not be able to open savings accounts.
- The bank also plans to make payments and transfers free for individual customers and charge corporate clients 0.3% of the payment amount.
- The bill will now be sent to the Federation Council, the assembly's upper chamber, and will be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin if passed.
In March, the BoR had to postpone the launch of the pilot of its CBDC, expected to start on April 1, since the related legislation had not been ready yet. - A recent report from the Russia-based Interfax news agency has pointed out that the country will start testing the digital ruble with consumers in August.
- In a recent interview, the BoR's deputy chairman, Olga Skorobogatova, also said they expect the CBDC to move to the mass rollout for all Russian citizens by 2027.
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