It is expected that the government of Japan will list the question about introducing a central bank digital currency (known simply as CBDC) in its announced plan for economic development.
Around 10 days ago Tokyo reported that it has started tests on a digital yen in order to establish its prospects from a technical viewpoint.
According to Nikkei, the examination of CBDC will be part of the Honebuto Plan on economic and fiscal revival, which is structural for the Japanese economic and fiscal policy. It also noted that the Japanese government will “examine CBDC, coordinating its efforts with other countries”.
After it became clear that China has started testing its CBDC or digital yuan, the government of Japan accelerated the process of examining the possibility of its own CBDC. In March member of the Chamber of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and former official at the Ministry of Finance Kozo Yamamoto urged Japan to introduce CBDC:
‘If Japan doesn`t introduce digital currency, and people across the world start using the digital currencies of other countries, the Japanese yen will be weakened and lose its sovereignty’.
Earlier this year, in February, the central banks of the United Kingdom, Japan, the Eurozone, Sweden, Canada, and Switzerland announced they will partner up in examining the opportunities and risks of introducing their own digital currencies.
