RBI in no hurry to launch digital currency: T Rabi Shankar

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India has no immediate plans to launch Central Bank Digital Currency ( CBDC) nationwide even as there are seven million use cases in the pilot project, deputy governor T Rabi Shankar said at the Global Fintech Fest.

"We are in no hurry to launch (CBDC nationwide) it." He said that for this system to launch, other countries need to launch it simultaneously. "The best use case for CBDC eventually comes in the cross-border space. So we have to get into a few cross-border arrangements, see how it works," he added.

At the same time, the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub is looking running pilots around Central Bank-backed Digital Currency in multiple areas around subsidy schemes, commercial or trade finance to ensure that CBDC-powered funds get used for specific purposes only, said Sahil Kini, chief executive officer, RBIH at the Global Fintech Fest 2025.

The DG indicated that progress on CBDC was better two-three years ago as compared to now.

The DG referred to two costs involved in cross-border transactions: One is the cost of processing, the other is to do with foreign exchange conversion.