{"id":6918,"date":"2022-02-18T10:37:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-18T10:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/?p=6918"},"modified":"2022-03-12T08:08:18","modified_gmt":"2022-03-12T08:08:18","slug":"indias-digital-currency-leap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newmoneyreview.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/18\/indias-digital-currency-leap\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s digital currency leap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the last decade India has undertaken arguably the most ambitious digitisation programme of any country in the world.<\/p>\n

Its so-called \u2018India stack\u2019\u2014a public digital infrastructure that allows governments, businesses, start-ups and developers to interact\u2014is the largest open software platform of its kind.<\/p>\n

Nearly all of India\u2019s 1.4bn citizens are now included in a biometric digital identity system, which is linked to a real-time payments network and a credential management platform.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s payments system has been called the most advanced in the world<\/a>, and recent events have shown how far-sighted its planners were.<\/p>\n

Since the coronavirus pandemic, more and more of us have turned to digital forms of payment, discarding cash in the process.<\/p>\n

To make sure they stay relevant in the digital money era, governments around the world are now racing to introduce state digital currencies (also called central bank digital currencies or CBDC).<\/p>\n

Some say China is well ahead in this global competition\u2014it\u2019s been trialling the new digital yu\u2019an at the winter Olympics.<\/p>\n

The US is playing catch up but in a serious way\u2014the Federal Reserve has released two important papers about CBDC in the last month.<\/p>\n

But India is also now firming up its digital currency plans. The country\u2019s finance minister said earlier this month<\/a> that India will introduce a new CBDC later this year or in 2023.<\/p>\n

To discuss the digital rupee and its likely impact, I\u2019m joined on the latest New Money Review podcast<\/em><\/a> by Tanvi Ratna, a technologist and policymaker who\u2019s based in Bangalore.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Tanvi Ratna<\/em><\/p>\n

Tanvi, who is founder of a think-tank called Policy 4.0, has worked with both the US and Indian governments on technology policy and is closely involved with India\u2019s digital currency debate.<\/p>\n

In the podcast, we discuss:<\/p>\n