Norway’s Central Bank Pauses CBDC Push, Cites Strong Existing Systems

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Norges Bank, Norway’s central bank, has determined that launching a central bank digital currency is “not warranted at this time.” This announcement signals a significant reassessment of the immediate necessity for both retail and wholesale CBDCs in the country.

Officials stated on Wednesday that Norway’s current payment infrastructure already provides secure, efficient, and low-cost transactions. This robust system diminishes the perceived urgency for a CBDC in the near future. Nonetheless, the bank has kept the door open for a potential future issuance.

“Introducing a central bank digital currency is currently not warranted,” confirmed Norges Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache. She did clarify, however, that “The need for such a currency may change in the future.”

Governor Bache further noted that the central bank will maintain readiness to deploy a CBDC should it become essential for preserving an efficient and secure national payment system.

This revised position comes after multiple years of research and testing involving various CBDC frameworks. These experiments included trials of token-based settlement using blockchain technology.

The bank’s involvement in international initiatives, like the cross-border retail CBDC project Icebreaker in 2023, informed its analysis. Previously, project leads indicated that any future CBDC would be designed to coexist with both physical cash and private digital currencies.