REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Bank Indonesia (BI), the central bank of Indonesia, will complete the studies on digital currency by 2020, an official said here on Wednesday. The study will determine whether the authority will issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), Onny Widjanarko, Executive Director of Payment System Policy Department, stated in Jakarta.

"We have started the study this year, and the final analysis would be completed in two years," Widjanarko noted, while adding that since last year, the central bank had collected several papers and proposals of the digital currency issuance of other countries.

He explained a number of issues to be discussed before approving the digital currency, mainly in terms of stability in financial and monetary systems. Apart from the stability, the authority needs to prepare the infrastructure for the digital currency, which should comply with the Central Bank Law and Currency Law.

"When the study completes, we would decide "whether to go or not" with the digital currency," Widjanarko stressed.

According to the previous studies of other central banks, the digital currency may turn payment system to be more efficient and effective, because the authority no longer needs to print money in a physical form, he stated. Widjanarko further explained that the central bank digital currency can be distinguished from the private virtual currency, namely Bitcoin or Etherum.

"The CBDC has a legal standing, while the virtual currency is not regulated by any law," he remarked.

The former is also controlled by the central bank, in order to assure the stability of financial system, Widjanarko added. Apart from Indonesia, other countries, such as UK, Singapore, Malaysia, and Ecuador, are also conducting studies on the digital currency, he remarked.

However, not only digital currency, the central bank of Indonesia is also analyzing the new modern integrated transaction scheme, which is known as "blockchain." In Bitcoin system, the blockchain is used as a platform for the digital currency. 

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