The International Monetary Fund 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 platform would avoid an underutilization of so-called 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 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.
