Legal fog over central bank digital currencies "unacceptable", BIS warns

FILE PHOTO: Agustin Carstens leaves after G-20 finance ministers and central banks governors family photo during the IMF/World Bank spring meeting in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

LONDON (Reuters) - Developing national digital currencies are at risk due to a lack of legal powers to issue them in most of the world, the head of the global central bank umbrella body, the Bank for International Settlements, warned on Wednesday.

While countries generally have laws on banknotes, coins and credit balances, an IMF paper in 2020 showed that close to 80% of central banks are either not allowed to issue a digital currency under their existing laws, or the legal framework is unclear.