Japan will start a pilot programme in April to test the use of a digital yen, its central bank said on Friday, joining a growing number of countries seeking to catch up with front-runner China in launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The widely expected move follows two years of experiments that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has been conducting to decide whether to issue a CBDC, and moves Japan closer to issuing a digital yen in several more years.
It also comes ahead of the BOJ’s leadership transition to academic Kazuo Ueda, who is expected to succeed incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda. Kuroda’s second five-year term ends in April.
“Our hope is that the pilot programme will lead to improved designs through discussion with private businesses,” BOJ Executive Director Shinichi Uchida said in opening remarks at the central bank’s meeting with private-sector executives.
Under the pilot programme, the BOJ will conduct simulated transactions with private entities in a test environment, Uchida said. The programme will help the BOJ be ready in case the government decides to issue a digital yen, the bank said.
This report’s information was first seen on REUTERS; to read more, click this link.
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