'No Plan to Issue CBDC' — Bank of Japan Governor

Role of CBDC in People‘s Lives

The governor of the BOJ, Haruhiko Kuroda, recently disclosed the central bank’s stance on issuing a digital currency has not changed — it will not issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The governor, however, insisted the BOJ will still continue “to carefully consider the expected roles of central bank money” in peoples lives today and in the future.

In remarks made while delivering a speech at a Fintech Summit in Japan, Kuroda explained why the central bank is not rushing to launch a CBDC. He said:

We consider it important to prepare thoroughly to respond to changes in circumstances in an appropriate manner, from the viewpoint of ensuring the stability and efficiency of the overall payment and settlement systems.

Also, to help the BOJ with this process, Kuroda revealed that the central bank is “drawing on the wisdom of various stakeholders both at home and abroad.”

Feasibility of Launching a CBDC

Kuroda‘s latest remarks concerning the BOJ’s intention to launch a CBDC, however, come just a few days after the central bank said it is moving on to the next stage in testing the feasibility of a CBDC. In a recent statement, the BOJ announced the commencement of the new stage wherein it will “implement various additional functions of CBDC in the test environment developed in Phase 1.”

The statement added that during this phase 2, the BOJ will also investigate the feasibility of issuing digital currency as well as the challenges that may be encountered.