Norges Bank has announced that it would proceed to test various technical solutions for a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) over the next two years.
The central bank’s motivation to research on CBDCs grew stronger as many other central banks across the globe are conducting similar experiments and some are already going through technical testing.
The press release stated that payment technologies are rapidly evolving and Norway is possibly the lowest in the world in terms of the share of cash payments.
“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. Additional knowledge is necessary for us to be able to decide whether issuing a CBDC is appropriate”, said Governor Øystein Olsen.
Norges Bank’s CBDC research has remained ongoing for four years. What comes after the research would be the technical testing, combined with a deeper analysis into the need for and the by-products that come with the introduction of CBDC.
Currently, the timeline surrounding the launch of Norwegian CBDC has yet to be revealed.
