IMF Approach to Central Bank Digital Currency Capacity Development

Policy Papers, April 11, 2023

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Canonical URL: IMF Approach to Central Bank Digital Currency Capacity Development

The global central banking community is actively exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which may have a fundamental impact on both domestic and international economic and financial stability.
Over 40 countries have approached the IMF to request assistance through CBDC capacity development (CD).
Current IMF CBDC CD efforts have focused on:
- facilitating peer learning
- developing analytical underpinnings for staff advice to member countries
- conducting CD missions aimed at helping country authorities answer questions about how to think about CBDCs
With more available country experiments and empirical evidence, IMF CD will evolve to provide increased value-added advice more tailored to country circumstances and more solidly anchored in empirical and analytical work, and strengthen synergies with surveillance.

The paper sketches a multi-year strategy to address frequently asked questions related to CBDC.
Objectives include:
- documenting emerging lessons
- consolidating analytical findings
- articulating policy views for IMF staff and member countries
- developing a CBDC Handbook to systematize guidance and evidence

The paper (1) explains the IMF’s approach to CBDC CD:
- emphasis on peer learning and analytical support
- CD missions to help authorities frame CBDC questions
(2) summarizes member countries’ emerging questions and challenges regarding CBDC:
- need for context-specific analysis and policy advice
- demand for empirical evidence from country experiments
(3) introduces the CBDC Handbook by motivating its scope and elucidating its governance structure:
- Handbook will document emerging lessons, analytical findings, and policy views
- governance structure to guide development and updates (details in source)