Belarus Prepares to Launch ‘Cross-Border’ CBDC – Russia’s Digital Ruble an Inspiration?
Belarus is set to follow suit with Russia’s CBDC development plans – and plans to launch a digital version of the Belarusian ruble for use in “cross-border” payments.
Per Minsk-Novosti and Interfax, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) has earmarked the launch of CBDC as one of its most “significant” projects of recent years.
Dmitry Kalechits, the NRBR’s Board’s Deputy Chairman, said:
“One of our most significant large-scale projects will be the introduction of the digital Belarusian ruble and its use at the cross-border level.”
Moscow expressed similar sentiments last month, with top politicians suggesting Russia’s digital ruble “could be compatible” with China’s digital yuan and other global CBDCs.
Kalechits explained that the bank already had a “definition” for the CBDC, which it already considers “a legal tender that performs all the functions of money.”
He said the coin would be “issued by the central bank” and would “have the same value as cash” versions of the Belarusian ruble.
Kalechits’ comments come months after Pavel Kallaur, the bank’s Governor, spoke of the NRBR’s plans to create a CBDC “experiment” with “a narrow group of participants.”
Per BELTA, Kallaur said that both commercial “banks and individuals” would take part in the pilot.
But the Governor appeared to hedge his bets at the time, claiming that the NRBR needed to “decide on the feasibility” of a digital Belarusian ruble.
Kallaur said that Presidential approval was still required, noting at the time that a final “decision will be made at the level of the head of state.”
However, Russia’s keenness to forge ahead with its own digital ruble project appears to have encouraged Minsk to speed up its own CBDC project.
Kalechits explained that
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