NEW DELHI, 02 February 2022, (TON): The country’s finance minister said “India’s central bank will launch a digital version of the rupee in the next financial year.”

Nirmala Sitharaman said as she delivered the country’s annual budget “introduction of a central bank digital currency will give a boost, a big boost to the digital economy.”

She added “digital currency will also lead to a more efficient and cheaper currency management system.”

The Reserve Bank of India will introduce the digital rupee in the 2022-2023 financial year which begins on Apr. 1.

Sitharaman gave no details about how the digital rupee would work or what it would look like, but said “it would be introduced using blockchain and other technologies.”

Blockchain refers to the technology that was originally created alongside bitcoin, but the definition has since evolved as its applications have moved beyond cryptocurrencies.

India would be one of the world’s largest economies to introduce a so-called central bank digital currency (CBDC) if it sticks to its plans.