Wholesale CBDC Payment Systems and the Potential of the Digital Ruble in Cross-border Settlements

A new payment infrastructure based on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) can improve the efficiency of cross-border payments. Currently, the main focus of research in this area is on creating and testing the advantages of multi-CBDC platforms: preliminary results indicate the potential for making international payments faster, less expensive and more accessible. To build an effective cross-border payment infrastructure based on digital currencies, it is important that monetary authorities consider international payments, among other uses, when designing CBDCs. As one of the main elements of digital currency design, the IMF recommends that central banks consider access and communication issues, measures to ensure sufficient liquidity of foreign financial intermediaries, and measures to control possible risks such as the effect of exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices, capital flight and currency substitution. The economic community expects the digital ruble to be launched into circulation in 2026. It will be mainly used for domestic payments, but the Bank of Russia is also discussing the possibility of using it for cross-border payments. It is therefore important to discuss the conformity of the current design of the digital ruble with existing international standards and recommendations for the design of the CBDC with cross-border use in mind. Despite the fact that the current design of the digital ruble is primarily focused on the Russian financial market, it is relatively easy to reconfigure it for cross-border settlements.