Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, is planning to issue a digital currency to speed up payments.
The central bank is currently assessing which technology to use for its digital rupiah, governor Perry Warjiyo told a streamed news conference on Tuesday, according to a Reuters report. Once issued, the digital rupiah will be a legal payment instrument in Indonesia, alongside banknotes. But the central bank doesn’t have a timeline yet on when it will issue it.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, has reportedly seen an increase in digital banking transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Per Reuters, the country’s transaction frequency in digital banking platforms rose over 60% on an annual basis to more than 570 million times in April, while value increased 46% to reach nearly 3,114 trillion rupiah (almost $217.5 billion).
