MOSCOW, July 22 The use of the digital ruble may prove promising in the budget sector, said Dmitry Shishmakov, director of the NTI Competence Center «Center for Distributed Registry Technologies of St. Petersburg State University».
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the digital ruble platform had shown its efficiency and it was time to move on to wider use of this form of money. The President also stated that it is necessary to move to the widespread introduction of the digital ruble in various areas. The platform was launched in pilot mode by the Central Bank in August 2023. 
“To popularize a new form of currency, first of all, it is worth paying attention to its use in the budgetary sphere, including for targeted accruals that are allowed to be spent strictly for certain purposes, for example, for accruing maternity capital,” says Shishmakov.
As an example, the expert cited the experience of China, which has been dealing with the development and use of the digital yuan for almost 10 years, of which the testing procedure took 3 years. “The first truly widespread use occurred only in 2023 — civil servants of the Changshu municipality began to receive salaries in digital yuan,” noted Shishmakov.
The expert also added that the use of digital currencies is a promising direction, which significantly simplifies the processes associated with the accrual and control of the proper expenditure of funds and security.
At the end of last year, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation will test the use of the digital ruble for a number of budget expenses in 2024; the Treasury has already received the corresponding instruction.
The Minister also noted that the digital ruble is a completely reliable and absolutely transparent instrument, however, for example, the idea of transferring state employees to salaries with such a currency has yet to be studied in detail — this is not a near-term prospect.