Bangko Sentral wraps up tests for own digital currency

MANILA - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has finished tests for its digital currency meant for large transfers between financial institutions.

The BSP said it, and participating financial institutions completed the testing for Project Agila, which is a proof-of-concept of the BSP’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) at the wholesale level. 

This lets financial institutions to transfer funds to each other even during off-business hours, during evenings, weekends, and holidays. Wholesale CBDCs may be used by commercial banks and other FIs for interbank payments, securities transactions, and cross-border payments.

"These transactions can safely be supported by open-source distributed ledger technology through the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure," the BSP said.

Project Agila was evaluated with FIs over functional, performance, security, and programmability, among others, the central bank said.

“Wholesale CBDCs are expected to enhance liquidity management, reduce settlement risks, and support financial stability,” said BSP Governor Eli Remolona Jr.

The central bank chief said Project Agila will help guide the BSP’s CBDC roadmap.

The use of CBDCs was first broached by former BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno in 2021. These are similar to cryptocurrencies, but while cryptocurrencies are designed to be decentralized with no regulating authority, CBDCs are backed by the central bank and government that issued them. Other central banks have been experimenting with CBDCs, including the People's Bank of China.