Japan’s Finance Minister Calls on G7 to Discuss CBDCs at Talks Friday

Japan’s finance minister Taro Aso suggested on Tuesday that the G7 finance ministers should have discussions over central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in Friday’s virtual meeting.

• The G7 meetings are attended by officials from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. involving discussions around global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.
• “I think it’s important for us to thrash out (policy measures regarding) digital currency issued by central banks,” said Aso said at a press conference reports the Mainichi.
• In December, G7 Finance Ministers said they see a need to regulate digital currencies, according to a U.S. Treasury Department statement.
• Last year G7 attendees talked about responses to the ever-changing landscape of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets as well as government efforts to prevent their use for illegal purposes.
• The G7 meeting on Friday is a virtual meeting and will be the first such one since U.S. President Joe Biden took over on Jan. 20.
• The virtual meeting is ahead of the official summer G7 gathering in 2021 which will be held in the U.K. this year.

Read more: G7 Officials Stress Need to Regulate Digital Currencies: US Treasury