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MNI:BOC Deputy Calls Cash 'Clunky' Amid Digital Currency Study

(MNI) OTTAWA
OTTAWA (MNI)

Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Tim Lane called physical cash "clunky" and said a review of whether to launch a digital currency has moved beyond early work to look at what specific attributes it might have.

"For a long time, the Bank of Canada has been involved in the payments system, quite sensibly because we create cash, in its clunky physical form, and we also create settlement balances that are used by banks and other large financial institutions," Lane said Wednesday during a panel talk with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

"The question is to what extent should we be trying also to bring those products into the digital age and creating a digital form of cash," Lane said. Governor Tiff Macklem earlier this year told MNI the central bank needs to be ready for a digital currency and warned of risks of a world where private companies introduced their own currencies.

MNI Ottawa Bureau | +1 613-314-9647 | greg.quinn@marketnews.com
MNI Ottawa Bureau | +1 613-314-9647 | greg.quinn@marketnews.com

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