Recently, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) showed interest in Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) assessment of the digital potential of the central bank (CBDC), and hoped to be a supporter of the development of the asset.
For the record, on January 19, BNM was reportedly studying the potential of the CBDC.
Maybank President Datuk Seri Abdul Farid Alias believes the CBDC is of undeniable importance as its existence brings transformation in the financial sector especially payments.
Even so, Abdul Farid wants the acceptance of CBDC based on a high understanding of related technologies:
"We do not want to make wasted investments because technology changes over time. Because of that, we will ensure the right time and technology for the benefit of the country. ”
For the record, several countries are already serious with CBDC development including China, the Bahamas, Russia, and South Korea.
At the same time, the United States Federal Reserve (US) has already confirmed the CBDC exploration following an executive order from president Joe Biden approved in February.
Inevitably, Malaysia needs to embrace the change in the use of fiat - from cash to digital as the rest of the world focuses on its interests. It is also actually in line with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) recommendations based on the April 2022 survey report.
The collaboration between BNM with the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the South African Reserve Bank in setting up a prototype to test international solutions using several CBDCs since September 2021 is Malaysia’s first step towards digital finance.
