IMF Working Hard on CBDC Global Infrastructure

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is “working hard” on a concept of a global infrastructure that would ensure interoperability of settlements between digital currencies issued by national central banks. Such a platform would avoid an under-utilization of so-called central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), managing director Kristalina Georgieva told a conference in Rabat, Morocco.

“We are working on a principle of interoperability,” she said. Such concept would involve a shared infrastructure that would avoid the emergence of “settlement blocks,” which is the “last thing we want” to avoid further economic fragmentation, Georgieva said.

Driven by a declining use of cash and a rising interest in crypto assets, many monetary policy institutions have been exploring the possibilities of central-bank issued digital currencies.

Ten central banks—out of the 14 that are exploring issuing a national digital tender—are “already crossing the finish line,” she said, adding that there’s “a lot that is still not decided” on regulating and organizing CBDCs.

“We will pursue relentlessly together” the development of CBDCs, Georgieva said.

See also:

• Research and Development, and Developing a Point of View
• Digital Dollar Is a Long Way from Reality
• UK Considers a CBDC
• India Pilots a CBDC
• China Is Leading the Digital Currency Race
• Would a U.S. CBDC Impact MMFs?

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