Head of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina has teased the idea that the bank might launch its own digital currency in the future.
Referred to the central bank digital currency (CBDC), Nabiullina explained that although the development would not take place soon, it is most certainly an option further down the line.
Speaking at a student conference at Skolkovo, she said: “Indeed, the central bank digital currency cannot be realised immediately, however many central banks, including the Russian Central Bank, are exploring this possibility.”
“If we are talking about the national currency, which works as a whole in the country, that is, these are not private assets, of course, this requires that the technology allows ensuring reliability and continuity. Technologies must be mature, including distributed registry technologies.”
Nabiullina also emphasised the importance on the reliability of the technology that supports a digital currency and noted that it is necessary to understand and appreciate whether society is ready to move to an all digital based monetary system.
Nabiullina added: “If we look, some countries have really become almost non-cash, but in many countries cash is still in great demand. It’s not so much because people want to perform some dubious operations.
“People often value their privacy, anonymity. Of course, the spread of non-anonymous Digital currencies are in some sense the readiness of society.”
She concluded with advisory comments to the bank’s researchers, explaining they should compare the advantages of CBDCs over other methods, for example fast bank payments.
