Speaking at the “India Global Forum” on Tuesday, the country’s finance minister, Nirmula Sitharaman, said she expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) before the end of the year.
Sitharaman noted that the country has taken further steps by diligently consulting with RBI regarding digital currency. India’s central bank has been working on CBDC for the last two years and the country’s Finance Bill of 2022 proposed that digital currency should also be regarded as bank notes.
The finance minister further noted that the government believes that CBDC offers lots of advantages that could benefit the country if properly executed.
“In this day and age, bulk payments happening between countries, large transactions between institutions, large transactions between central banks themselves of each country are all better enabled with a digital currency. Therefore we think the RBI would be looking to see how best they can come out with it,” Sitharaman said.
She also commented on crypto regulation in India after Kuber Ashish Singhal, CEO of CoinSwitch, quizzed her on the matter.
Sitharaman replied, noting that consultations are now taking place and once completed, the ministry will take appropriate action regarding crypto regulation.
“The consultations are on, you are welcome to participate. Anybody else here who is interested in this domain is welcome to participate. Once the consultation process gets duly completed, the ministry will sit in and probably mull over it, which is required because we need the executive to make sure that we are not crossing any legal requirements. Post which we will come out saying what our position is on it. I know you have led me to say are we regulating it or are we banning it. I am not getting into it now,”
However, the finance minister added that she, like many average Indians, sees cryptocurrencies as a potential source of revenue for investors.
Meanwhile, just recently, Coinfomania reported that crypto traders in India are now subject to tax obligations and will pay up to 30% on their crypto incomes.
