The digital rupee will strengthen the digital economy and revolutionize fintech –

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi says a digital currency from India's central bank will strengthen the digital economy. The digital rupee will also revolutionize the fintech sector by creating new opportunities and reducing the burden of handling, printing and logistics of cash management, the prime minister reportedly said.

India's Prime Minister Modi sees advantages of the digital rupee

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday highlighted the potential benefits of the Central Bank of India's digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee, while addressing members and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a virtual federal budget conference, according to reports.

The country's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced during her Budget speech on Tuesday that the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), would do so introduce a digital rupee in the 2022/23 financial year.

Prime Minister Modi was quoted by local media as saying:

The digital rupee will be the digital form of our physical rupee and will be regulated by the RBI. This will be one such system that allows an exchange of physical currency with digital currency.

“The central bank digital currency will strengthen the digital economy... If someone makes a payment in digital currency, they can convert it into cash,” the prime minister emphasized.

Noting that “CBDC will make digital payments and online money transfers safer and risk-free,” Prime Minister Modi said, “This will also lead to facilitation in the development of global digital payment systems.” The Prime Minister added:

The digital rupee will revolutionize the fintech sector by creating new opportunities and reducing the burden of cash handling, printing and logistics management.

A growing number of central banks worldwide are exploring central bank digital currencies. According to the Atlantic Council's central bank digital currency tracker, 87 countries are currently working on a CBDC. India would become one of the world's first major economies to launch a central bank-backed digital currency when the RBI issues the digital rupee in the coming fiscal year.

What do you think about RBI issuing a digital rupee? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin Helms

As a student of Austrian economics, Kevin discovered Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects, and the interface between economics and cryptography.

Photo credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, WikiCommons