TOKYO, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan (BOJ) will begin preparations to conduct a pilot experiment with private financial institutions next year towards issuing a digital yen, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
The move, widely expected, will follow two years of experiments the BOJ has been conducting to decide whether to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The Nikkei newspaper reported earlier in the day that the BOJ will start pilot experiments for launching a digital yen with Japan's three megabanks and regional banks next spring.
A spokesperson for the BOJ was not immediately available to comment on Wednesday, a public holiday in Japan.
The move will come after the BOJ wraps up a second phase of its CBDC experiment that started in April, and which will last about a year.
While the BOJ has not made any decision yet on whether to issue its own digital currency, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said in May that providing a retail CBDC could be an option to secure a seamless and safe infrastructure in Japan.
Kuroda also called at a seminar at that time for increased efforts by global policymakers to contain risks that may emerge from the wider use of private digital currencies.
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