Mhel Plabasan, the top manager of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the central bank of the Philippines), said the organisation is in favour of stabilecoins because they can help the monetary system and provide “affordable and fast” cross-border payments.
The organisation also plans to launch a pilot version of its CBDC by the end of 2022.
During a panel discussion at the Forkast conference titled “Cryptocurrency Growth: CBDC and Stablecoins: Prospects in Asia,” Mhel Plabasan – director of the central bank of the Philippines – said that staplecoins could benefit the country’s payment network.
He noted that Filipinos working abroad could send money to their families in a cost-effective way through the use of stablcoins.
According to stetistics, nearly 12 million Filipinos live outside their homeland. More than four million are in the US.
But while Plabasan is generally in favour of the adoption of stablcoins, he argues that regulators should keep a close eye on new technologies.
The executive also said that the financial institution will soon launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in pilot mode. The CBDCPh project, as the authorities have named it, should see the light of day by the end of the year.
The Bank for International Settlements and the central banks of Israel, Norway and Sweden have teamed up to work on a project called Project Icebreaker.
As part of the project, the organisations will explore how central bank digital currencies (CBDC) can be used for international retail and money transfers.
The work will last until the end of 2022, with a final report with results to be submitted in the first quarter of next year. Beju Shah – head of the BIS Innovation Hub Nordic Centre said:
“This first-of-its-kind experiment will further explore the choices and trade-offs in technology, architecture and design and explore related policy issues. The insights gained will be invaluable to central banks contemplating the implementation of CBDC for cross-border payments”.
