IMF Developing a Global CBDC Platform – Report

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is doubling down on its effort to help governments around the world actively developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). 

The Global CBDC Platform

As reported by Reuters, the International Monetary Fund is developing a global platform that will enhance CBDC interoperability. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva revealed on Monday that when finally launched, the platform will foster transactions between two countries.

“CBDCs should not be fragmented national propositions… To have more efficient and fairer transactions we need systems that connect countries: we need interoperability,” Georgieva told a conference attended by African central banks in Rabat, Morocco.

It is a known fact that the global financial ecosystem is unified through payment systems like SWIFT. CBDC innovation is a new territory for most countries and while many are still conducting research on the suitability of these new national currencies, the IMF is working proactively for a future where more than 50% of all nations will have their own CBDC in circulation.

When these new digital fiat are now ubiquitous, the IMF global CBDC platform will come in handy. According to Georgieva, the IMF is working hard to convince countries to agree on a unifying regulation that will permit global interoperability of CBDCs. She reiterated that the full potentials of the technology underpinning CBDCs will not be harnessed if they are designed just for domestic purposes only.

At the moment, about 114 countries are actively involved in researching and developing a CBDC and according to Georgieva, about 10% are crossing the finish line.

CBDCs in Operation

The Central Bank of the Bahamas was the first to launch a CBDC dubbed the Sand Dollar back in October 2020. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has also launched the e-Naira, coming off as the second country with a functional CBDC in circulation.

While it has not launched its CBDC for mass usage, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is the most biggest nation that is at an advanced stage of its CBDC testing. The Digital Yuan has been tested at the Beijing Olympics and is being drafted as a payment method by some of the largest retail companies in the country.