- The deputy governor of the Central Bank of Norway has mentioned that the country is not in a hurry to intensify the efforts for a digital currency.
- The Central Bank is doing rigorous research for the wholesale CBDC application for the fifth phase.
- In Norway, despite being more reliable on digital payments, a small chunk of the population still favors using cash
The Central Bank of Norway is planning to introduce a Central Bank Digital Currency to the country by 2025. The deputy governor of the Central Bank, Pal Longva has given an interview to a prestigious media outlet, Bloomberg in which he stated that the county is not worried about dawdling as compared to other countries regarding CBDC.
Norway comes under 134 countries which are still understanding the revolution of CBDC. In December 2023, the central bank issued news of the fourth phase of CBDC trials. At that time, the country believed that a retail CBDC was not that important.
Exploring more, the Central Bank is doing rigorous research for the wholesale CBDC application for the fifth phase. The decision is to be taken by the end of the next year.
Country in not in hurry for digital currency
The governor has further mentioned that the country is not in a hurry to intensify the efforts for a digital currency. Also, the Central Bank of Europe gets ready for a probable introduction of one in the coming future.
Longva commented that, “In my belief we are not falling behind in regards to the CBDC efforts. Also, we are conforming the rules with other central banks and understanding the issues as well as risk. We have a lot of things lined up so far to consider and assess, so we are not in a hurry at all.”
Norway is considered as a leader in the matter of digital payments. During the pandemic COVID19, a gradual decline in the use of cash has also been witnessed as people trusted more in contactless payments at that time.
As of now, the data reports that the use of cases in the country is stabilized. In a survey conducted by the Central Bank this year, around 2% of pollee used cash for most of their transactions which showed a change opposite from the continuous declination. This clearly shows that despite being more reliable on digital payments, a small chunk of the population still favors using cash.
Other country’s stand over digital currencies
Contrary to Denmark, it has stated that the payment systems used within the boundaries makes CBDC needless. The country has quoted that it may draw possible risks to the economic stability.
At the same time, the finance ministry of Sweden is still assessing the worth of e-krona, and stated that more understanding regarding the same is required before reaching to any conclusion.
