The Reserve Bank of India held a Press Conference on June 8, Wednesday, after it announced its decisions taken at the Monetary Policy Committee meeting that concluded on the day after three days of consideration. During the press conference, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das stated that the government and RBI were in constant communication about cryptocurrencies.
When the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das enquired if there had been any more dialogues between the RBI and the government on the consultation paper which is expected to be out soon, he replied that the central bank is in constant engagement with the government regarding the issue. He said that there is continuous engagement between the government and the RBI on all issues including cryptocurrencies. He also went on to add that their views were given to the government, and the discussion paper is awaited.
Earlier this year, on May 31, economic affairs secretary Ajay Seth stated that the finance ministry has nearly finished preparing the consultation paper on cryptocurrencies and will submit it soon. The consultation paper is nearly finished. We conducted extensive research and consulted not only domestic stakeholders but also multilateral institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.
We hope to be in a position to finalize and submit it soon, Seth said at an event.
Seth also said that India is in consultation with other countries around the world about global regulations on cryptocurrencies, and the role of India if such action comes into effect. He told the press that there is a need for a global consensus on cryptocurrencies and that India would first look at the regulations imposed in other countries before making such a decision.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said in an interview with CNBC TV18 on May 23, just days after announcing an off-cycle repo rate hike, that the central bank had long warned against cryptocurrency, and it has now crashed. The global cryptocurrency market had taken a significant hit at the time, from which it had yet to recover.
We have been warning against cryptocurrency, and look at what has happened to the cryptocurrency market now. People would have questioned what happened to regulations if we had already regulated them, Das told CNBC TV18 in an exclusive interview.
This is something with no underlying (value). There are significant concerns about how to regulate it. Our position remains unequivocal: it will seriously jeopardize India’s monetary, financial, and macroeconomic stability, the RBI Governor added.
Shaktikanta Das also stated that he believes the Centre appears to agree with the central bank’s stance on cryptocurrencies, which is that they have no underlying value.
We have informed the government of our position, and they will make an informed decision. I believe the government’s utterances and statements are more or less in sync. They are also concerned, Das said at the time.
