Central bank digital currency may be a necessary response to the decline in competition in the digital economy, staff at the Bank of Canada argue.

“Without a public digital payment option, current problems related to competition are likely to worsen, and promising future markets might not fully realise or equitably distribute the benefits of innovation,” they say in a new research paper.

The four authors – Andrew Usher, Edona Reshidi, Francisco Rivadeneyra and Scott Hendry – argue the launch