Pitching for a global policy, Gopi Gopinath said “no individual country can solve this problem on their own”
New Delhi: International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath said on Wednesday that cryptocurrencies were proving to be a challenge for emerging markets and that strong regulation was needed for the sector.
“Regulating crypto assets and currencies is essential, especially for emerging and developing economies, as banning them may not work as crypto exchanges are located offshore, which makes it easier for individuals to trade in them despite the ban,” Gopinath said while delivering a lecture on Global Recovery and Policy Challenges in 2022 organized by National Council of Applied Research Centre.
Pitching for a global policy, Gopinath said “no individual country can solve this problem on their own” because of the ease with which cryptocurrency transactions can be done cross border. “There is a need for a global policy on it urgently,” she said.
In an interview to CNBC TV-18, the economist further said that cryptocurrency is not a “global threat, as of now.”
On surging cases of Omicron variant, Gopinath said, “It is worrying to see high level of infection rate. Omicron is expected to be the dominant version over the next one month. It is worrying to see high level of infection rate. Need the whole world to get vaccinated or you will keep getting new variants of COVID-19.”
In India, the much-awaited Cryptocurrency Bill is unlikely to be tabled in the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament. The Bill, which was listed in the government’s legislative business of the Winter Session, seeks to “create a facilitative framework for the creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
It also seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India. However, it “allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses”, according to the Bill listed for introduction on the Lok Sabha website.
Gopinath also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 15.
“Chief Economist of the IMF, @GitaGopinath called on PM @narendramodi,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) tweeted along with a couple of photographs from the meeting.
Gopinath was recently promoted as IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director. She is set to replace Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the Fund early next year.
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