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BI to develop wholesale CBDC soon, experts suggest prioritizing on retail
Bank Indonesia has announced that its roadmap for the country’s own central bank digital currency (CBDC) named the “digital rupiah” will start with a wholesale design, in a move that may bring the country closer to finally implement the long-awaited digital currency.
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Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo speaks during the annual meeting of Indonesia's central bank with financial stakeholders in Jakarta, on Nov. 30, 2022. (Reuters/Willy Kurniawan)
B
ank Indonesia (BI) has announced that its roadmap for the country’s own central bank digital currency (CBDC) named the “digital rupiah” will start with a wholesale design, in a move that may bring the country closer to finally implementing the long-awaited digital currency.
The roadmap was launched within a white paper named after the country’s mythical creature “Project Garuda,” with an aim to explore possible designs to implement the digital rupiah. Its development will be divided into three stages with the first two only involving banks and BI’s roles.
BI will start the CBDC development for wholesale digital rupiah, but the functions will be limited for issuance, redemption and transfer of funds, which the central bank sees as the most feasible for an initial stage.
For the next phase, the digital currency will be expanded to support financial market transactions and monetary operation.
The last stage, meanwhile, will integrate wholesale and retail design with the latter involving functions of distribution and collection, as well as peer-to-peer transfers and payments, which will finally be available for the general public.
“At the end we will integrate both wholesale and retail digital rupiah end-to-end with synergy and collaboration nationally and internationally,” BI Governor Perry Warjiyo told audiences in BI’s annual meeting on Wednesday.
Read also: IMF warns about risks of digital currency to banks, monetary sovereignty
