RBI's T Rabi Sankar Says Tokenisation Of Assets Like Government Bonds Is Next Step

The Reserve Bank of India’s next step is the tokenization of assets like government bonds, according to Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar.

For this, the regulator is also holding regular discussions with the government, he said while speaking on the sidelines of a day-long IBA Banking Technology Conference in Mumbai.

Cross-border central bank digital currency will take some time and the regulator is now trying out programmability, he said. Mostly, it would be the wholesale CBDC from across the border that would benefit, according to Sankar.

“Talks are still on and some countries have shown interest. But we are still in the pilot stage,” he said.

In terms of wholesale CBDC, Sankar said that it is not about volume but about trying technology. But CBDC-Retail is about both technology and how people cope with it, he said.

Referring to the RBI’s aim of 1 million CBDC transactions, he said it was the focus, but transactions have come down somewhat.

The total amount now stands at a few crores. Transactions happen regularly but in small amounts, he said.