See Clear Advantage In A Central Bank Digital Currency, Says Nirmala Sitharaman
Nirmala Sitharaman has said consultations are going on over cryptocurrency within the government
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharman on Tuesday said that the proposed digital rupee, which she had announced in the union budget, is a conscious call which was taken in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the government sees clear advantage in a central bank driven digital currency.
On the issue of regulating cryptocurrency, Ms Sitharaman - while addressing the India Global Forum in Bengaluru - wasn't willing to get into whether the government would be regulating or banning it.
She said that consultations are currently on (over cryptocurrency) and the government would be talking about it.
"The consultations are on....anybody interested in this domain are welcome to participate, after the consultation process gets duly completed , the (finance) ministry would probably sit and mull over it, which is required because we need the executive to be sure that we are not crossing any legal requirements, post which we will be coming out with what's our position on it," she said.
Elaborating on the proposed digital rupee, Ms Sitharaman said, "It was a conscious call taken in consultation with the central bank (RBI). We would like them to design it the way they would like to do it, but this year we expect the currency to come out from the central bank itself."
"We see clear advantages in a central bank driven digital currency, because in this day and age, bulk payments happening between- countries, large transactions between institutions and large transactions between central banks themselves of each country- are all better enabled with digital currency," she added further.
To a question whether she sees a future for crypto in
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