Fed’s Brainard sees case for central bank digital currency
2022.05.26 00:56
Federal Reserve Board Governor Lael Brainard testifies before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on her nomination to be vice-chair of the Federal Reserve, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 13, 2022. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/Files
(Reuters) – Creating an official digital version of the U.S. dollar could help ensure financial system stability as crypo-assets and digital currencies developed by other countries become increasingly popular, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard said on Wednesday.
“The rapid ongoing evolution of the digital financial system at the national and international levels should lead us to frame the question not as whether there is a need for a central-bank-issued digital dollar today, but rather whether there may be conditions in the future that may give rise to such a need,” Brainard said in testimony released in advance of her appearance on the issue before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on Thursday.
“We recognize there are risks of not acting, just as there are risks of acting,” she said.
