The Group of Seven (G7) is an inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The G7 leaders aim to address challenges affecting the growth of the world economy, like slowdowns in emerging markets and drops in price of oil. However, recently they have taken notice to the disruptive market of digital assets.
The G7 has published a set of Public Policy Principles for Retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) alongside a G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Statement on CBDCs and digital payments. CBDCs could be a digital form of central bank money that could be used alongside physical notes and coins.
The Statement Read:
We have been exploring in our jurisdictions how digital innovation could maintain access to, and enhance the benefits of, central bank money in the form of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). If issued, a CBDC would complement cash and could act as a liquid, safe settlement asset and as an anchor for the payments system. Under the UK presidency, we have been working together to examine the wider public policy implications of retail CBDCs designed for use by households and businesses. Alongside this statement, G7 finance ministries and central banks are publishing Public Policy Principles for Retail CBDCs, to support and inform domestic policy and design deliberations within and beyond the G7.
The decision on whether to launch a CBDC is for each country to make, and no G7 jurisdiction has yet made this choice. It raises important questions about the way in which people interact with money and payments. The report covers a range of important matters such as financial stability, operational resilience and cyber security, energy efficiency, privacy, inclusion and tackling illicit finance. These factors should all be considered when designing and potentially delivering a CBDC that would be fit for the future.
