Relevance and risks of issuing a CBDC in Colombia

Banco de la República de Colombia (BRC) published a report outlining its cautious stance on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). It underscores the BRC’s concerns over potential financial risks and policy challenges associated with CBDC adoption, and potential financial stability threats and monetary policy transmission channel disruptions. Hence, the BRC does not see reasons for CBDC issuance in the short term, but it will continue investigating the possible advantages, risks and costs of its issuance in the future. [Read more at the BRC (in Spanish)]

Kazakhstan pays for rail line to China using programmable CBDC (CoinTelegraph)

The National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) launched a pilot project to use its digital tenge CBDC to pay for the construction of a rail line to China. The project uses programmable digital tenge to see that allocated funds reach the intended recipients at the right time. The money allocated to finance the project was “marked” so it is paid only to organizations that have fully fulfilled the required obligations. The marked CBDC was used to enlarge the rail line between Moyynty in central Kazakhstan and Dostyk on the Chinese border across from Xinjiang. [Read more at the NBK]

Putin wants to speed up deployment of Russia’s CBDC (Ledger Insights)

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed an interest in accelerating the Bank of Russia’s digital ruble CBDC pilots. At a meeting on economic issues on July 17, 2024, he called for a “broader, full-scale implementation of the digital ruble in the economy, in economic activity and in the field of finance”. The pilot, which launched in August 2023, involved 12 banks, 600 individuals and 22 trade and service enterprises from 11 cities. As of July 1, 2024, 27,000 transfers and over 7,000 payments for goods and services have been done, which “the digital ruble platform showed its performance and functionality” and justifying taking the next step to “full implementation”. [Read more at the Kremlin website]

Upcoming Speaking Engagements:

• CBDC Conference, Istanbul, September 10-12. The conference will offer representatives of central banks, commercial banks, technology providers, policy makers and academics the perfect platform to learn about the latest CBDC developments, exchange ideas with experts and peers. [Find out more and register here][Central bank delegates may be eligible for free registration (email registration@cbdc-conference.com to find out more)]

• Digital Currency Conference, London, September 23-24. The conference will bring together policymakers, regulators, and technology and innovation experts to network and discuss all aspects of digital currencies. And enter the KiffmeisterDCC code at registration to get a 20% discount! [Find out more and register here]

And just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So (only) if you work at a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank) and who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at john@kiffmeister.com.