Statements from the IMF Boss
The IMF boss made it known that the role of a state in injecting money into the digital economy cannot be overlooked. As a result of this, it becomes paramount for the state to start considering the possibility of issuing a digital currency.
Lagarde has also backed her statements up with some benefits attached to doing this. She made this known in a recent speech she made in Singapore.
She stated that:
“The advantage is clear. Your payment would be immediate, safe, cheap and potentially semi-anonymous… And central banks would retain a sure footing in payments,”
She also spoke on some key benefits of doing this, which cover subjects such as, financial inclusion, customer protection, and privacy issue.
Regarding customer protection, she stated that:
“physical money was a check on the power of financial institutions. Without it, private payment providing companies would dominate. Such a system would tend towards monopoly, and make the economy too reliant on one pillar. Digital currency could prevent these issues by providing an alternative and back-up.”
As regards privacy issue, she stated that:
“Imagine that people purchasing beer and frozen pizza have higher mortgage defaults than citizens purchasing organic broccoli and spring water. What can you do if you have a craving for beer and pizza but do not want your credit score to drop? Today, you pull out cash. And tomorrow?”
Crypto is Not a Threat
The IMF boss also cited examples of countries already benefiting from being crypto-friendly.
Finally, she made it known that she doesn’t see cryptocurrency as a threat to financial stability. She also stressed the importance of regulating the industry.
