Argentina President Alberto Fernandez has expressed his interest in creating a central bank digital currency for the country, but the nation’s central bank rejected it.
The president, seeing the progress of other nations in their digital asset initiatives, said that Argentina should also take further steps in improving its digital capabilities.
“I don’t want to go too far out on a limb, but there is no reason to say ‘no,'” Fernandez said in an interview with Caja Negra, a local media outlet.
The country’s inflating problem
The issue of inflation is one of the three biggest problems that Argentina is facing today, especially during the time of former President Mauricio Macri. In fact, after he left office in 2019, data showed that 100 Argentine pesos are equivalent to today’s 661 pesos.
The current administration has already implemented a number of crucial measures to control the country’s inflation. But Fernandez said that Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies as a whole, is rapidly being seen as a viable solution for the country’s inflation.
Despite the growing optimism on cryptos, the President admitted that it is too early to trust these digital asset class, primarily because of its infancy. It is still an emerging market, that is why Argentina has all the reasons to be cautious.
Central bank says no
The President wants to be sure about cryptos. But he is certainly open to exploring them. But this is not the case with Argentina’s central bank head Miguel Pesce, who is critical of cryptocurrencies.
During the Argentine Institute Executive of Finance’s Digital Finance Forum, Pesce said that cryptos are a threat to economic stability.
He added that cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, haven’t shown any clear value for investors outside of short-term hype cycles and even called them as not a real financial assets.
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