Norway to test solutions for digital CB currency
Share of cash payments in Norway is ‘now probably lowest in the world,’ says Norway’s central bank
ANKARA
Norway’s central bank will start testing various technical solutions for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), it said on Thursday.
“Norges Bank’s research into CBDCs has run for a good four years. A new element moving ahead will be technical testing combined with further analysis of the need for and the implications of introducing a CBDC,” a bank statement said, adding the test will continue over the next two years.
The statement noted that payment technologies have evolved at a rapid pace and that the share of cash payments in Norway is “now probably the lowest in the world.”
According to the Atlantic Council think-rank, the CBDC is the digital form of a country’s fiat currency that is also a claim on the central bank. Instead of printing money, the central bank issues electronic coins or account backed by the full faith and credit of the government.
Meanwhile, a number of central banks in the world are either researching or piloting a digital currency.
In April 2020, China became the first major economy to pilot a digital currency.