Singapore and China to Work Together for Digital Currency. The central bank of Singapore and the financial regulatory authority want the central bank to cooperate with China in the field of digital money.
Ravi Menon, the president of the Singapore Monetary Authority or MAS, expressed her readiness to engage in a close cooperation with China regarding the country's digital currencies.
CBDC Hot Topic
Speaking at a financial forum in Shanghai, Menon stressed the progress of China's central bank digital currency, or CBDC, known as the digital yuan. Sina Finance plans to exchange information and expertise on Singapore, which is actively researching Blockchain-based CBDCs on June 18.
He said that Menon CBDC is a very hot topic at the moment and that Singapore and China central bank are discussing various CBDC development scenarios. Underlining that the reasons for the development of CBDC differ from country to country, the official emphasized that Singapore's CBDC project's main goal is to reduce cross-border payment and settlement costs, minimize payment time and ensure transaction security.
MAS Official Encourages More Co-operation With Facebook's Libra
At the event, Menon also mentioned Facebook's problematic stablecoin project Libra. The official states that Libra is a major challenge for the global central bank system. Stating that the project has “great flexibility”, the authorized Libra team stated that it is committed to working closely with global regulators.
Menon also states that the value of Libra is obvious and this issue should be discussed further.
The Singapore Monetary Authority has been working on a blockchain-backed interbank payment and securities project since the end of 2016.
China Has More Digital Currency Plans to Compete with USD and Libra
In June 2019, it is reported that the central bank of China launched its digital yuan before Facebook's Libra. While it is said that CBDC has already been tested in some cities in China, experts are confident that China can start its digital yuan without noticing the change.
It is also reported that in mid-June, China is planning an East Asian digital currency to gain greater independence from the US dollar. The planned digital currency is reported to include regional currencies such as Chinese Yuan, Japanese Yen, South Korean Won and Hong Kong Dollar.
