Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday told the Parliament that it is still too early to gauge the spillovers of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) while assailing concerns on whether it would impinge on an individual’s autonomy.
Replying to a question on the CBDC during Question Hour in Lok Sabha, she said that digital currency is something that the RBI issues.
“Reserve Bank of India has come up with a pilot project in terms of retail and wholesale use of digital currencies for which there are several sandboxes created so that use cases can be tested. It is only during this process and immediately after that can there be any kind of understanding of how the retail or the wholesale use of digital currencies will have any spillovers for which any action has to be planned. It has been introduced since last December. We will wait for the outcomes from there,” the Finance Minister said in her reply.
DMK member T. Sumathy had expressed concern while asking a question on the CBDC, whether the concept of programmable money brought forth by CBDC could potentially impinge on an individual’s autonomy, thus leading to an all-controlling state.
