(Photo: REUTERS/Tingshu Wang)
The People's Bank of China disclosed on Saturday that the country's digital currency program will push through as expected as the nation continues to recover from the coronavirus crisis.
According to Sina Finance, the PBOC conducted a "Quarterly Finance Statistics Data Presentation" on Friday as a follow up on the progress of the country's planned launch of its virtual currency.
In addition, the central bank announced that it had adopted various financial measures in response to its economic recovery program. A total of 3.3 million yuan (about $45.4 billion) of related initiatives have been introduced so far, Coin Idol said.
The bank said it was further "prioritizing" the electronic currency during the recent 2020 National Currency Gold Silver and Security Work Video and Telephone conference.
A note from the government disclosed that since the outbreak of the coronavirus, the cash and security program has bolstered the country's cash supply and circulation control to "ensure protection of cash supply and use."
As the coronavirus outbreak has sparked global digitization, people have all become worried about virtual currency issuance and distribution by the central bank and want to know the precise progress.
While reacting during the public briefing to the CBDC question, Zhou Xuedong, PBOC director and spokesperson, said that with regards electronic currency, the PBOC will proceed in an orderly manner as planned.
These days, over 95 percent of daily micropayments are being made via mobile payments or online, Xuedong said. China has a certain edge in this regard, he stated, adding that the study and development requirements for virtual money will become higher granting the digital economy can emerge as "a new economic development bright spot."
Although this was at least the third time that a digital yuan was discussed in the annual conference, the unambiguous language used suggests a strong approach on the undertaking than before.
During a 2018 meeting, the PBOC said it would work on the project "at a steady pace". Last year, the central bank stated it would fast-track the process with a closer look at developments in the digital currency trading locally and abroad ramp up more rigorous regulation of online funding.
Meanwhile, the Chinese yuan rose to a more-than-three-week peak versus the softer US greenback after the US Federal Reserve launched a massive fresh stimulus package to cushion economic distortion from the pandemic.
If the yuan ends the late night trading at its mid-day level, the currency would have rallied 0.8 percent in the week, its strongest weekly advance since early March.
