The need for the Bank of Canada to introduce its own digital currency may appear earlier than anticipated, said Timothy Lane, who is the deputy governor of the financial regulator. He named the main reasons for the decline in the number of cash transactions, which is happening much faster than expected.
Timothy Lane spoke in February of this year about the lack of arguments in favor of issuing a Canadian digital currency. He explained why he changed his mind:
“It remains to be seen how much of this is related to the pandemic, and how much it is the beginning of a new trend. But, of course, we are following this very closely,” said Lane.
According to him, the working group continues to prepare for the release of a digital currency of the central bank. However, at the moment, the specific timing of the project remains unknown. Lane emphasized that in order to get the system up and running, one needs to make sure it works, it is secure, legally consistent, and has other issues resolved.
Lane said in February that the Bank of Canada sees no compelling case for a digital currency. Then, the deputy governor named two scenarios that could lead to the need to release a new asset: the population’s refusal to use cash and the widespread use of private digital currencies.
