CBDC HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTION COST TO 2-3%: SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Addressing FICCI’s 96TH Annual General Meeting and Annual Convention, on the theme- ‘The World’s Growth Engine’, Mr Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India, said that the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) has the potential to reduce cross- border transaction cost to two-three per cent.

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Addressing the session on Digitalisation of Trade and Finance on Day 1 of FICCI’s AGM and Annual Convention, Mr Seth further said, “In India’s pursuit of a ‘Vikasit Bharat’, the growth story of India in the next decade is likely to have a 55 per cent contribution to capital, 35 per cent to be driven by productivity gains and the balance 15 per cent by getting more people into the work force. Each of the three factors of production has its own constraints.”

He further elucidated that the digital public infrastructure is based on three layers- identity, payments, and consent. This has led to a massive amount on inclusion, which, in turn, has led to credit flowing to the MSME sector.

The Secretary further said that there are currently 35 crore active users on UPI, which roughly, accounts for eight digital transactions a month by a citizen. The annual volume comes up to INR 200 lakh crores. As per another estimate it is leading to about 4 per cent gain to our economy.