(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday vowed to expand its
work on crypto assets, amid a call from finance minister of India
Nirmala Sitharaman to evolve a consensus to deal with digital
assets, Trend reports citing The Times Of India.
During a panel discussion early Tuesday morning (India time),
Sitharaman flagged concerns over possible misuse of private digital
currencies for money laundering and terror financing and reiterated
the government's stand that one country alone cannot regulate the
use of the rapidly rising instrument. Besides, she said that the
technology to deal with crypto assets needs to continuously
evolve.
“Regulation using technology is the only answer. It will have to
be so adept, that it is not behind the curve, but be sure that it
is on the top of it. And that's not possible if any one country
thinks that it can handle it. It has to be across the board,” the
FM said.
Indian authorities are working on a legislation on crypto assets
but are unclear if a full-fledged ban, as was advocated by an
expert panel as well as the Reserve Bank of India, will work unless
other countries are also on board. For the time being, the
government has imposed a tax on crypto transactions, including a 1%
tax deduction at source, which Sitharaman said was essential for
establishing a money trail.
She also said that the evolution of technology and schemes —
from Aadhaar to Jan Dhan — had prompted her to announce the Central
Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the Budget, which is expected to be
rolled out by the RBI during the current financial year.
While acknowledging some of the concerns, IMF managing director
Kristalina Georgieva said that the multilateral agency will expand
its work on digital money with a special focus on interoperability
of CBDC, regulation of private digital currencies and risks from
cyberattacks. Although she was upbeat about CBDC, the IMF chief
appeared worried over private digital currencies posing a threat to
the currency sovereignty of smaller economies.
Her comments came amid backing from the Singapore and Brazilian
central banks on CBDC making international transfers smoother and
easier for individuals, even Monetary Authority of Singapore
managing director Ravi Menon said he did not see a“compelling
case” for retail digital currencies launched by central banks.
Tags:
- IMF (International Monetary Fund)
- India
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