MNI BRIEF: No Case For Retail CBDC - RBA's Lowe

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe said that a case for the establishment of a central bank digital currency for retail use has not yet been established, in a speech on Wednesday.

The RBA is working on a pilot project for the issuance of a CBDC and has received 140 submissions for possible use cases. However, Lowe was cool on the idea of a retail CBDC. "We have an open mind as to whether a public policy case will emerge to go in this direction. However, as things stand today, that case has not yet been established. We are, though, exploring the possibilities in case this assessment changes."

Lowe said the RBA was looking at the pros and cons of an alternative form of a digital Australian dollar – a payments stablecoin that is issued by the private sector, just as banks issue deposits. "If we were to go in this direction, the payment stablecoins would need to be backed by a strong regulatory regime, just as applies to deposits," Lowe said.