Norway's central bank, Norges Bank, is planning to test various technical solutions for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) over the next two year. According to a press release, Norges Bank Governor Øystein Olsen believes that additional knowledge is necessary for the regulator in order to decide whether issuing a CBDC is appropriate.
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"Central bank cash provides the payment system with a number of important attributes that may be relevant to retain and develop further by issuing a CBDC," Olsen said.
He also added that the watchdog's working group will focus on technical testing of CBDC combined with further analysis of the need for and the implications of introducing the digital currency. One of the goals is to find a solution "if it becomes relevant" to introduce a CBDC in Norway, Olsen pointed out.
Meanwhile, Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, estimates it might take five years before the country will get its own digital currency. As Riksbank Governor Stefan Ingves earlier said, the concept of digital krona has set to enter a new post-cash era. Ingves believes that five years is a "reasonable target" for the country as the watchdog accelerates the development of its own tools to respond to an increasingly cashless world.
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