According to EFE, quoting the Interfax agency, the Central Bank of Russia will begin pilot tests of the digital ruble with real clients and the usage of smart contracts in April 2023, as revealed this week by the vice president of the issuing body, Olga Skorobogátova.
The pilot project also includes tests of smart contracts, which are computer programmes written in code that enable automated compliance with the agreements agreed upon by the parties without the involvement of middlemen.
The Russian Central Bank said a month ago that the digital ruble prototype it had developed with banks was already being tested. The trials include the creation of digital wallets for bank customers as well as inter-user transfers.
The CBDC project has risen to the top of the Russian government’s priority list. As a result of the invasion of Ukraine and harsh Western sanctions, Russia has accelerated this effort and reduced rules on mining and the use of cryptocurrencies.
Elvira Nabilina, the BCR’s governor, has stated that the central bank’s digital currency is meant to supplement, not replace, cash.
The Russian Central Bank, on the other hand, has slashed interest rates by 300 basis points in an effort to contain the significant appreciation of the ruble in recent weeks, after it fell sharply to lows of 150 per dollar in early March. The Russian currency was trading at RUB 63.6500 per dollar at 9:19 a.m. (ET) on Thursday.
On Thursday, the bank reduced its main interest rate from 14% to 11%. This is the bank’s third rate drop after boosting the benchmark rate from 9.5 percent to 20 percent in an emergency following the invasion of Ukraine and Western-imposed economic sanctions.
The issuer cited lower financial stability risks, slower inflation, and the ruble’s recovery against the dollar and euro as justifications for the interest rate drop.
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