Benjamin E Diokno: Opening remarks for the Joint Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-Alliance for Financial Inclusion (BSP-AFI) Knowledge Exchange Program on Central Bank Digital Currency

Opening remarks by Mr Benjamin E Diokno, Governor of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP, the central bank of the Philippines), at the Joint BSP-AFI Knowledge Exchange Program on Central Bank Digital Currency, Manila, 28 February 2022.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Central bank speech  | 
04 March 2022
by Benjamin E Diokno
PDF full text
(97kb)
  |  3 pages

Introduction

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. As I speak here from Manila, I would like to welcome everyone to this joint BSP-AFI Virtual Knowledge Exchange Program-3 (KX3) jointly organized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. This important collaboration follows two previous knowledge exchange programs: first on Digital Financial Services co-hosted by Bank Negara Malaysia in 2019, and the second on Open Banking co-organized with Bank of Thailand in 2020. We at the BSP are happy to co-host this three-day virtual KX3 on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for Financial Inclusion. If not for the pandemic, I am pretty sure that we would all be together spending a lovely time here in Manila.

CBDC developments

There has been plenty of interest in CBDC projects globally. According to an analytical note released by the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) as of December 2021, three central banks have launched CBDCs for commercial use; 14 countries have launched or completed pilot testing of CBDCs; 16 are in stages of development or proof-of-concept stage; while another 40 countries are currently undertaking research on CBDCs.

Even global and regional multilateral institutions are also looking into CBDCs ranging from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB). These institutions are coming up with various deep-dive research and initiating policy discussions that aim to contribute to the emerging framework for adoption of a CBDC, as a potentially game-changer of the international monetary system.