On March 1, Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang
announced that the Treasury Department will lead a new senior-level working group to advance work on a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). As previously discussed in a Treasury report released last September on the future of money and payments (covered by InfoBytes
here), Treasury was called to lead an interagency working group to complement work undertaken by the Federal Reserve Board to consider the implications of a U.S. CBDC. The working group will consist of leaders from Treasury, the Fed, and White House offices, including the Council of Economic Advisors, National Economic Council, National Security Council, and Office of Science and Technology Policy. In the coming months the working group “will begin to meet regularly to discuss a possible CBDC and other payments innovations,” Liang said during a workshop titled “Next Steps to the Future of Money and Payments.” The working group will focus on three main policy objectives: (i) how a U.S. CBDC would affect U.S. global financial leadership; (ii) potential national security risks posed by a CBDC; and (iii) the implications for privacy, illicit finance, and financial inclusion if a CBDC is created.
To support discussions on a possible CBDC and other payment innovations, Liang said the working group will develop an initial set of findings and recommendations. Those findings and recommendations may relate to whether a U.S. CBDC would help advance certain policy objectives, what features would be required for a U.S. CBDC to advance these objectives, choices for resolving CBDC design trade-offs, and areas where additional technological research and development might be useful.
Liang commented that the working group will also “engage with allies and partners to promote shared learning and responsible development of CBDCs.” She pointed out that CBDC efforts are already underway in jurisdictions around the world, with 11 countries already having fully launched CBDCs, “while central banks in other major jurisdictions are researching and experimenting with CBDCs, with some at a fairly advanced stage.” Liang stressed that regardless of whether a CBDC is adopted in the U.S., the country “has an interest in ensuring that CBDCs interact safely and efficiently with the existing financial infrastructure; that they support financial stability and the integrity of the international financial system; that global payment systems are efficient, innovative, competitive, secure, and resilient; and that global payments systems continue to reflect broader shared democratic values, like openness, privacy, accessibility, and accountability to the communities that rely upon them.”
