Digital currency: The govt would do well not to get carried away on CBDC

If financial inclusion is the goal of issuing CBDCs, it might not be worth it since UPI has been fairly successful in achieving it

The government is once again using a favourite tactic—"be clear in your opaqueness". This time it is with Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), while earlier, it was with cryptocurrency regulation in general. The finance ministry and the RBI have clearly stated that the RBI will soon issue a CBDC. No opacity there.

In her 2022 Budget speech, Nirmala Sitharaman said that the RBI would issue CBDCs "starting 2022-23". Several RBI and finance ministry officials have gone on record, saying that the latest timeline is early 2023. But everybody involved has also been very opaque when it comes to the contours