Haruhiko Kuroda (the governor of the Bank of Japan) stated that the bank does not plan to launch a digital currency. These remarks were made just days after the BOJ announced that the second phase of its central bank digital currency experiments would begin.
CBDC’s role in people’s lives
Haruhiko Kuroda (the governor of the BOJ) recently revealed that the central bank has not changed its stance on issuing digital currency. It will not issue a central banking digital currency (CBDC). However, the governor insisted that the BOJ would continue to “consider carefully the expected roles central bank money in people’s lives today as well as in the future.”
Kuroda explained why Japan’s central bank has not yet launched a CBDC in remarks. Kuroda said:
It is important to be prepared to react to any changes in circumstances in a timely manner. This is in the interest of maintaining stability and efficiency in the overall payment- and settlement system.
Kuroda also revealed that the BOJ is “drawing upon the wisdom of different stakeholders both at home as well as abroad” to aid in this process.
Possibility of launching a CBDC
Kuroda’s remarks about the BOJ’s plans to launch a CBDC come only days after the central banking stated that it was moving on to the next stage of testing the feasibility. The BOJ recently announced that it is launching a new stage to “implement additional functions of CBDC” in a statement.
In a statement, the BOJ stated that it will investigate whether digital currency can be issued during phase 2.
