SEACEN central banks coordinating to develop CBDCs, says RBI Bulletin

CBDC

South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) members are coordinating their efforts to develop central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its March bulletin.

“SEACEN central banks are actively coordinating their efforts to develop CBDCs, with near real time exchanges of information on progress,” the bulletin said.

The RBI Bulletin is a monthly publication that offers insights into the developments in domestic and global economies but doesn’t represent the views of the central bank.

The Bank Indonesia, for instance, is pushing ahead with trials of the digital Rupiah for wholesale interbank settlement.

“The BIS-led Project Dunbar involving the Central Bank of Malaysia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, has developed two prototypes for a shared platform that could enable international settlements using digital currencies issued by multiple central banks,” the bulletin said.

Cambodia’s Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announced in September that it would use the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain for its first wholesale CBDC trials under Project Agila.

Singapore started Project Ubin to solve challenges faced by the financial industry and the blockchain ecosystem.

In Sri Lanka, the central bank is working on a proof of concept for its board before proceeding to a pilot. Thailand’s Project Inthanon aims to explore the potential of CBDC for interbank settlements. South Korea will also start a pilot for a CBDC involving 100,000 citizens this year.

Hong Kong’s pilot, which involves 16 banks and payment companies, tested six potential uses of the e-HKD.

“India is conducting pilots in both retail and wholesale segments. Myanmar, Lao PDR, Nepal and Vietnam are in various stages of research,” the bulletin said.

The RBI launched the wholesale pilot for CBDC on November 1 to settle trades of G-Secs using the digital rupee. Additionally, the central bank rolled out a pilot for retail use of CBDC on December 1, 2022.