Bank Indonesia (BI) ensured that the Garuda Project or digital rupiah currency is still on-progress. Currently, Bank Indonesia is in the process of finalizing proof of concept documents for digital rupiah and establishing a roadmap.
BI is currently still reviewing and developing the digital rupiah concept known as the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
Digital rupiah is rupiah currency in digital format and can be used as physical money, electronic money, and money in payment instruments using debit or credit cards.
On the other hand, only BI can issue digital rupiah as digital banks, and the currency is not intended to be used as crypto assets or stable coins.
This digital rupiah will be issued in two types. The first type is the wholesale digital rupiah, which can be used on a limited basis by parties appointed by BI for wholesale transaction settlements, such as monetary operations, foreign exchange market transactions, and money markets.
The second type will be in the form of retail with the scope of access distributed as retail transactions, transfers by individuals and merchants.
Digital rupiah progress and road map
Currently, BI is seeking input from various industries for further development. Meanwhile, the proof of concept is being finalized to explain the business model and technology that will be used in the future.
“We only received input from the industry at the end of last July, we at BI are currently working on it,” said Perry Warjiyo, Governor of BI, on August 1, 2023.
BI receives inputs that are taken into consideration by industry players including technology, communication language, and implications for the industry in the future.
Apart from adjusting to domestic actors, the central bank will also coordinate with international players to prepare proof of concept documents. Such document is important because digital rupiah has a cross-border concept that can be used across countries.
“We continue to coordinate to discuss it at the international level, including with the Bank for International Settlements,” said Perry.
Meanwhile, BI has made a roadmap for implementing digital rupiah through three stages. The first stage will be issuing digital rupiah for the wholesale type.
The second phase will include expanding the various functions and services of wholesale digital rupiah to support transactions on the financial market.
The third phase will be implementing the concept of comprehensive integration of wholesale digital rupiah into retail digital rupiah.
