TOKYO: Central bank digital currencies (CBDC) could play a key role in global payments and settlements in the future, requiring the Bank of Japan to prepare for the possibility of issuing its own digital currency, a senior BOJ official said on Friday.

"While there is no change in the BOJ's stance it currently has no plan to issue a central bank digital currency, we believe that initiating experiments at this stage is a necessary step," BOJ Executive Director Shinichi Uchida said in a speech.