Anxiety As China Begins Major Trial of State-Run Digital Currency

Babajide Okeowo
Writer

Ad

DHQ Never Mentioned Any Coup Attempt

1. The attention of the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has been drawn to a false and misleading report by an online publication insinuating that the cancellation of activities marking Nigeria’s 65th Independence Anniversary was linked to an alleged attempted military coup. The report also made spurious references to the recent DHQ press release announcing the arrest…

Oil Prices Dip as Trump-Putin Summit Looms

Crude oil prices are expected to decline this week due to the hypothetical possibility of a peace agreement between the US and Russia, which could lead to a rebound in Russian oil exports and contribute to a predicted supply glut. The International Energy Agency has revised its demand growth estimates downwards for both this year…

When Forgiveness Is Hard (2), By Funke Egbemode

She was popularly called Mama Iyabo. Her husband threw her out of their matrimonial home 15 years ago, along with her three children, after 15 years of marriage. “I had earlier heard rumours about my husband and another woman. I knew he had girlfriends. He was doing well and living it up, though he took…

Ad

A move by China to become the first major economy to launch a digital currency, e-RMB is sending shock waves across the world.

The major cities of Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Chengdu, as well as the Xiong’an New Area, will host what China’s official state-run Xinhua News Agency described as ‘internal closed pilots’.

The three cities have a combined population of more than 38 million people while the Xiong’an New Area is a district and economic zone being developed by the government near the cap1ital Beijing.

China’s Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) project which is the country’s progress towards a digital yuan is known – began in 2014. Central banks around the world are assessing the feasibility of launching their digital currencies – so-called ‘central bank digital currencies’ (CBDCs). But China has regularly communicated tangible progress, as its central bank seeks to become the first to turn years of research and experimentation into reality.

According to a report by the state-owned China Daily, a statement by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC); China’s Central Bank said that the digital currency will not be issued in large amounts” for public use in the short term and that the digital currency in circulation would “not lead to an inflation surge”.

A sovereign digital currency provides a functional alternative to the dollar settlement system and blunts the impact of any sanctions or threats of exclusion both at a country and company level,” last week’s China Daily report said.

Some Government employees and public servants are to receive their salaries in the digital currency from May.

A decline in cash usage is expected to continue amid the growing popularity of digital payment platforms and as people avoid physical contact during the coronavirus pandemic.

It may also facilitate integration into globally traded currency markets with a reduced risk of politically inspired disruption.

Ad

X whatsapp