• Russian regions are looking to use the digital ruble, a CBDC, to fight corruption.
• Officials in Siberia and Kamchatka, Russia’s Far East region, are particularly enthusiastic about using the coin for their business operations.
• The digital ruble is being tested by banks in real-world transactions and is expected to launch soon.
Russian Regions Look To Digital Ruble To Fight Corruption
Russian regions are keen to use the nation’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the digital ruble, as a way to combat corruption. Yegor Vasiliev, Chairman of the Committee on Economics and Tax Policy of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Legislative Assembly said: “Each transaction with the digital ruble is transparent, easy to understand, and immutably recorded…No illegal transactions with the digital ruble can be carried out secretly.” This would help reduce risks associated with shadow economies and enable budget operations exclusively through the CBDC.
Testing The Digital Ruble
Russia began piloting its CBDC earlier this week with banks such as VTB, Qiwi, and Alfa successfully completing real-world transactions using it. Moscow is now looking at expediting its launch date which could be beneficial for residents of remote areas that don’t have access to internet services.
Benefits Of A Digital Ruble
The main benefits of having a digital currency include traceability from owner to owner as well as transparency across all transactions which can significantly reduce risk associated with corruption or shadow economies. Additionally it will make budget operations more efficient since transactions will be done digitally through a secure system instead of using physical cash or other forms of payment like checks.
How Will It Be Used?
Once launched, people will be able to use their digital wallets both online and offline depending upon their access to internet services in remote areas like Kamchatka where special offline wallets may be used that have been “topped up” in advance .
Russia Raises Interest Rate
In order to shore up its economy after seeing a significant decline in its currency’s value due to market volatility and speculation Russia recently raised its key interest rate by 3.5 percentage points on August 16th bringing it up 12 percent — an unprecedented move taken by the central bank .