In a development that seems more dystopian than dynamic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced its plans to develop a global Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) platform. This decision raises significant questions about monetary sovereignty, financial privacy, and global equity.
While IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva argued for the need for global CBDCs at a conference attended by African central banks in Rabat, Morocco, critics are skeptical.
This is great. We have the World Bank pushing through the digital IDs and now the IMF calls for global CBDCs.
That’s it. Those are the final two organisation below the BIS in the global power hierarchy.
— _Esc (@_Escapekey_) June 20, 2023
“CBDCs should not be fragmented national propositions… To have more efficient and fairer transactions we need systems that connect countries: we need interoperability,” Georgieva told a conference.
“For this reason at the IMF, we are working on the concept of a global CBDC platform,” she said.
Reuters reported:
The IMF wants central banks to agree on a common regulatory framework for digital currencies that will allow global interoperability. Failure to agree on a common platform would create a vacuum that would likely be filled by cryptocurrencies, she said.
A CBDC is a digital currency controlled by the central bank, while cryptocurrencies are nearly always decentralised.
Already 114 central banks are at some stage of CBDC exploration, “with about 10 already crossing the finish line”, she said.
“If countries develop CDBCs only for domestic deployment we are underutilizing their capacity,” she added.
CBDCs could also help promote financial inclusion and make remittances cheaper, she said, noting that the average cost of money transfers stands at 6.3% amounting to $44 billion annually.
Georgieva stressed that CBDCs should be backed by assets and added that cryptocurrencies are an investment opportunity when backed by assets, but when they are not they are a “speculative investment.
“At the IMF we are working hard on the concept of a global CBDC platform”: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva https://t.co/Py7JLMovuc pic.twitter.com/N6txNHBaaE
— Tim Hinchliffe (@TimHinchliffe) June 19, 2023
The move toward a single, universally accepted digital currency, one controlled by an international body, is concerning for a number of reasons.
First, there’s the issue of monetary sovereignty. Currently, each nation maintains control over its own monetary policy, allowing for adjustments based on specific domestic economic conditions. With a global CBDC, however, that power could be severely diminished, raising questions about the potential for unequal economic influence among nations.
Secondly, the concept of financial privacy could be entirely uprooted. As more transactions become digital, the potential for surveillance and control increases exponentially.
Rather than engaging in an open, thoughtful discourse on the merits and drawbacks of decentralization, this stance leans towards fear-mongering. It appears to be more of a power grab than an attempt to create a fair financial future.
To trust grifter Joe Biden or the Democrats with a digital currency is naive, to say the least. It will be another tool in their arsenal to punish and starve their political opponents.
We must NEVER let this happen.
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