Senior Bank of Japan official: Launching central bank digital currency experiments is a necessary step at this stage

Senior Bank of Japan officials said the Bank of Japan will begin testing the technical feasibility of the core functions and features required for central bank digital currency from April, and if the Bank of Japan deems it necessary to go further, it will also consider pilot projects involving payment service providers and user ends.

The Bank of Japan has no current plans to issue a central bank digital currency, and this position has not changed.

The Bank of Japan believes that launching a central bank digital currency experiment at this stage is a necessary step. Central bank digital currency has the potential to provide a means of payment and settlement, and may therefore make such systems a global standard. If we are to issue a central bank digital currency, its design needs to be consistent with the structure of future payment and settlement systems. When designing a central bank digital currency, we need to have close dialogue with major payment service providers.