The Bank of Thailand, the nation's central bank, said on Friday that it is extending the scope of retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) development by starting a pilot study. The central bank said in an announcement that it "deems it necessary to extend the scope of retail CBDC development to a pilot phase." However, it also reiterated its stance and said that it does not have plans to issue a retail digital currency. Deputy Governor of the Bank of Thailand, Vachira Arromdee, noted in the release that central banks around the world were seeing "the potential of retail CBDC as being the foundation of the future ... (full story)