MANILA – Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Monday told senators that developing and upgrading the country’s digital payment system is the priority of the government’s financial managers before engaging in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
A feasibility assessment conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in 2021 revealed that digital currency is not yet “worthwhile” for the Philippines at this time.
“Because we have a parallel system, ‘yung (the) PESONet and InstaPay, pagtuunan muna natin ‘yun (let’s focus on that first) before we go into CBDC. ‘Yun ang resulta ng pag-aaral (That was the result of the study),” Diokno said during the DOF budget hearing.
PESONet and InstaPay are electronic funds transfer systems that enable account holders to transfer funds in Philippine peso to another account of another participating banks, e-money issuers, or mobile money providers.
The BSP’s National Retail Payment System, which intends to expand e-payment transactions, includes the twin systems.
Diokno and other officials from attached DOF agencies were defending their proposed PHP30.570 billion budget for 2023 before the Senate Committee on Finance, which was chaired by Senator Sonny Angara.
“We will favorably recommend your budget to the plenary,” Angara told DOF officials.
According to Diokno, other countries tried to engage in CBDC because of the proliferation of digital currencies that are not backed up by their central banks.
He cautioned that digital currency is especially risky if it is not backed up by a central bank.
“Lagi pong sinasabi namin, huwag kayong maglalaro diyan kasi (We always say that you should not play with it because) you’ll get burned kasi napaka-speculative po niyan eh (because it is very speculative),” he said.
The BSP, then led by Diokno, started an exploratory study for a more collaborative and complete investigation of CBDC’s nature and implications for the country’s financial system in May of last year.
The national payment system was subsequently evaluated, resulting in the identification of relevant wholesale CBDC users for the purpose of enhancing the payment system, safety, resilience, and efficiency.
Digital currency, also known as digital money, electronic money, electronic currency, cryptocurrency or cybercash, is only available via mobile phones or computers.
It is more convenient, yet prone to hacking.
