On Tuesday Indonesia said it was exploring the possibility of issuing a digital Rupiah and yesterday Mauritius confirmed it has plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
A statement from the Bank Indonesia said that it was investigating both the concept and potential technologies but has not decided whether to proceed. It is keen to explore a CBDCs impact on digital transformation. The Bank reiterated that while a CBDC would be a legal means of payment, cryptocurrencies are not.
Meanwhile, Mauritius has been exploring CBDC since last year, said Harvesh Seegolam, the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius during Consensus 2021. The IMF has been assisting and will continue to provide help on the topic to the country, with a position paper to be published soon and pilots planned to start at the end of the year.
Its been a busy week for CBDC. South Korea opened bidding for a CBDC technology partner and detailed its roadmap for pilots. South Africa announced it would run a feasibility study for a general purpose retail CBDC, following two projects that focus on a wholesale CBDC for institutions. And Jerome Powell, the Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve laid out the Fed’s intentions.
Meanwhile, China continues to motor ahead with its ever growing number of pilots for its digital yuan.
