CBDC a quick, efficient means for cross-border transactions, says RBI Governor

Shaktikanta Das

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Shaktikanta Das, has said the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) can provide a solution for cross-border transactions.

“The world is moving towards technology and CBDCs have a major role because CBDCs can facilitate efficient, cost-effective and faster payments across jurisdictions. CBDC can provide a solution for cross-border transactions,” Das said at an interaction during the Governor’s Series Talk at the Frontiers of Central Banking in Asia at Marrakech on October 13.

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The Governor further said, quoting the latest estimates of the World Bank and others, that remittances still cost about an average of six percent, which was very high and needed to be brought down in today's technology era.

The central bank had started the wholesale CBDC pilot in November last year and later launched the retail CBDC pilot project in December 2022.

The wholesale pilot of CBDC was initially started with secondary market trading in government securities. Now it is being extended to overnight money markets.

In the retail segment, Das said they have millions of customers who are enrolled on the pilot project. “Almost every major bank has been onboarded. The trials are going on.”

Also Read: Central Bank Digital Currency can play important role in cross-border payment: RBI Guv

Das said that the learning from CBDC had been excellent and that it could prove to be the most effective and efficient mode for cross-border payments in particular, and for domestic transactions.

“With its instant settlement feature, I believe CBDCs can play an important role in making cross-border payment cheaper, faster and more secure,” Das said.