The new crown pneumonia pandemic is not only a perspective on the existing fragility of the global financial system, but also an acceleration factor of instability, including the increase in sovereign debt and consumer debt in emerging markets. At this week’s Central Bank Governor’s Club web conference hosted by the President of the Bank of Russia, Elvira Nabiullina, delegates agreed on the far-reaching consequences of the current crisis.
At the meeting, 26 central bank representatives from Central Asia, the Black Sea region, the Balkan countries and other regions also noticed the expansion of e-commerce and digital settlement technology caused by the pandemic. From the perspective of the central bank, these trends have prompted financial regulators to place more emphasis on central bank digital currencies than ever before.
According to reports, the vast majority of central banks around the world have already carried out some form of CBDC work. Since 2016, the number of official speeches on CBDC issues has been increasing, reflecting this growing interest.
At the follow-up meeting of the Central Bank Governors Club hosted by the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Russia Alexey Zabotkin, representatives discussed the increasing enthusiasm of financial regulators for CBDC during the pandemic.
As outlined in the minutes of the Russian Central Bank meeting, participants agreed that it is necessary to assess the potential impact of CBDC on the monetary policy and financial stability of various countries, and to develop procedures to mitigate cyber risks.
According to reports, this meeting not only convened the central banks of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Israel and China, but also convened representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the World Economic Forum, and the Bank for International Settlements.
The Bank for International Settlements not only participated in the research and development of global CBDC, but also conducted a detailed analysis of it. The International Monetary Fund has cooperated with a number of central banks to conduct joint research on CBDC, and the World Economic Forum has recently developed a CBDC framework from the perspective of transnational governance.
