The central bank of Indonesia, Bank Indonesia, has joined the CBDC train as it moves towards issuing a digital currency to facilitate payments. The bank’s governor, Perry Warjiyo, said that Bank Indonesia is currently exploring what platform to use for the digital rupiah.
Bank Indonesia is making digital payments as a priority after the country saw a surge in online transactions during the pandemic. It appears that citizens resorted to online transactions to reduce the use of fiat currency, hence curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
The central bank’s data showed that in April, transaction frequency across all digital banking platforms increased 60.3% to over 570 million times. The data further noted that value climbed 46% to 3,114.1 trillion rupiahs ($217.4 billion).
Speaking during a streamed news conference, Warjiyo said:
“BI plans in the future to issue a central bank digital currency, digital rupiah…as a legal digital payment instrument in Indonesia.”
In addition, the governor said that the central bank is now assessing how the digital currency will help the country meet its targets on monetary policy and payments systems. Without specifying when the bank will begin to issue digital rupiah, Warjiyo noted that the financial institution is considering its options on the technology to use.
He added that the central bank would control and regulate the digital currency just as it regulates fiat currency and digital transactions.
Image Credits: Pixabay
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