Norwegian Central Bank: No need to launch digital currency for now, CBDC project temporarily "shelved"

The Norwegian central bank (Norges Bank) announced after several years of research that there is currently no need to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), citing that Norway's domestic payment system is "efficient and secure," and has a well-established emergency mechanism.

Although the use of cash in Norway is among the lowest in the world, leading to increased attention on the discussion of digital currency, the central bank believes that the current system can still meet demand.

Norwegian central bank governor Ida Wolden Bache stated:

"If the future requires maintaining the efficiency and security of the payment system, we will be ready to launch a CBDC at any time."

She also emphasized that the central bank will continue to collaborate with the financial industry and other central banks to monitor the global development of CBDCs and digital currencies.

In the Nordic region, the political stance on digital currencies has been relatively cautious. Sweden, despite early fluctuations, still calls for a restart of discussions on the e-krona; the European Central Bank plans to launch a digital euro pilot as early as 2027, with a potential official issuance in 2029.

The Norwegian central bank plans to release its CBDC research summary and future plans in the first quarter of next year, stating that it does not rule out the possibility of issuing a CBDC in the future, while continuing to study tokenization and various forms of digital currencies.