Germany’s Finance Minister has said that the launch of Facebook’s digital currency libra should be prevented.
Olaf Scholz told reporters at the IMF and World Bank fall meetings in Washington that he had significant concerns over Facebook’s libra and other digital “world” currencies.
He claimed to be “highly skeptical” of the project, saying,
We will carefully monitor the situation with all the means at our disposal. I am not in favour of the successful creation of such a world currency because that is the responsibility of democratic states.
The G7 countries released a report following their meeting on Oct. 17 arguing that digital currencies like libra should not be allowed to launch due to the risks they pose on an international scale. The group said that stablecoins, including Facebook’s libra, have the potential to threaten the world’s monetary system and financial stability, in addition to lacking proper regulation.
Scholz said there is a “need for reform” in the financial sector before digital currencies can be safely implemented, highlighting the existing inefficiencies in cross-border payments.
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