The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is recommending that countries not give cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin status as legal tender
The global lender of last resort said its Executive Board had discussed a paper, “Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets,” that provided “guidance to IMF member countries on key elements of an appropriate policy response to crypto assets.” The IMF is recommending that countries not give cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin status as legal tender. They made that point as a part of a nine-point action plan for how countries should treat crypto assets. The financial agency’s Executive Board provided guidance to IMF member countries in the discussion of a paper, “Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets.”
The IMF said action is necessary after the collapse of a several crypto exchanges and assets over the last couple of years. The top recommendation was to “safeguard monetary sovereignty and stability by strengthening monetary policy frameworks and do not grant crypto assets official currency or legal tender status.”
The IMF came out against El Salvador in late 2021 when the Central American country became the first to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
Also the IMF may hold its global growth steady for 2023.
The head of the IMF said on Thursday that the global lender is unlikely to downgrade its forecast for 2.7% growth this year. Supporting that position is the fact that a feared oil price spike had failed to materialize and labor markets remained strong.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva still expected another “tough year” for the global economy with stubborn inflation. The IMF in October forecast that global growth would slow to 2.7% in 2023 after falling from 6.0% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022.
It had previously forecast growth of 2.9% for 2023, but she did not expect further cuts to the outlook.
“Growth continues to slow down in 2023,” she told reporters at the IMF’s headquarters in Washington. “The more positive piece of the picture is in the resilience of labor markets. As long as people are employed, even if prices are high, people spend and that has helped the performance.”
