Bertrand Perez said Facebook would not delay the launch of Libra

The Libra Association doesn’t care what regulators think. In an interview with online French news site Les Echos, Bertrand Perez confirmed that the association would launch Libra in the second half of 2020.

“We are firmly maintaining our launch schedule,” he said.

Pérez also said the renminbi would not be a part of the basket of currencies that backs up Libra.

The exclusion of the Chinese currency could be a conciliatory sop to Western countries. Regulatory authorities in these countries have expressed their concerns about the risks and regulation of Libra.

The Chinese have long wanted to end the reign of the US dollar as a global reserve currency. At a conference in July, Chinese bankers objected to Libra’s close association with the US dollar.

The said it would create a situation whereby “sovereign currencies would coexist with US dollar-centric digital currencies.” However, “there would be in essence one boss, that is the US dollar.”

To rub it in, Pérez said Libra’s collateral basket would include US dollar, euro, yen, pound sterling, and the Singapore dollar. “We are still thinking about weightings, but the dollar should have a very significant weight, around half.”

Libra Association and its critics’ concerns

According to one view, overly speedy implementation of Libra across Facebook’s user network could potentially destabilize global financial systems. Other critics have raised doubts on whether Facebook has the central-bank-like ability to manage such an extensive currency system.

According to historical records, public bodies manage a currency system better than private organizations.

Finally, Pérez brushed aside these concerns and said the Libra system would at best circulate between $ 100-$ 200 billion units. Considering that this is a low figure compared to global currency markets, he said fears of destabilization were overblown.