Banning cryptocurrency should be an option: IMF's Kristalina Georgieva

business-standard.com:

International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, on Saturday, backed India’s stance on private cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and said that there is a need for a strong push on global regulation for such assets.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) in Bengaluru, Georgieva also said that there are some disagreements between the nations on the issue of debt restructuring of low and middle income countries.

“We have to differentiate between central bank digital currencies that are backed by the state and stable coins, and crypto assets that are privately issued. Second, there has to be a very strong push for regulation. And third, if regulation fails, if you're slow to do it, then we should not take off the table or banning those assets, because they may create financial stability risk,” she said.

Indian officials in the Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India have argued that while there is a need for strong global regulations for private crypto assets, banning them should be an option in certain cases.

Georgieva said that 2023 will be a challenging year because of the expected global growth slowdown, and called the war in Ukraine a ‘grave source of uncertainty’.

On the issue of debt restructuring, Georgieva said that there were some disagreements, but did not name any country, adding that “there is commitment to breach differences,” among the nations.

Georgieva’s remarks came just after she, outgoing World Bank President David Malpass, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman co-chaired a meeting of the Global Sovereign Debt Round-table on Saturday morning.

Her remarks were echoed later in the day