OREANDA-NEWS  The project of introducing the digital Belarusian ruble is relevant against the background of sanctions pressure and restrictions on access to international payment systems, the National Bank of the country said. As follows from the report of the deputy chairman of the board of the regulator Dmitry Kalechits, they are going to introduce the digital ruble as a non-cash form of settlement, including to ensure cross-border payments.

Kalechits noted that the interaction of digital currency platforms of Central Banks will increase the availability of cross-border payments with counterparties from partner countries. He defined the digital Belarusian ruble as a legal tender that performs all the functions of money. It is issued by the central bank and has the same value as the cash and non-cash Belarusian ruble. From August 1, the law on the digital ruble will come into force in Russia, which will be issued together with existing forms of money. It will become the third form of national currency along with cash and non-cash. It will be possible to store digital rubles and perform operations with them on a special platform, the operator of which will be the Bank of Russia.

"The digital ruble can significantly speed up the process of processing electronic payments, as well as reduce transaction costs. It is interesting as a means of international settlements under sanctions. Blocking it is not as easy as Visa and MasterCard cards," explained Nikolai Kuznetsov, Doctor of Economics, earlier. According to him, such economic giants as China, Sweden and South Korea have already launched pilot projects on their own digital currencies