Swedish central bank chief is banking on e-krona in a push for central bank digital currencies (CBDC).
All-In on E-Krona
Stefan Ingves, the governor of the Swedish Central Bank — Riksbank – on Thursday argued in an economic note that Sweden shall have its own CBDC dubbed e-krona issued by the apex bank.
“There shall be digital state money as legal tender, an e-krona, issued by the Riksbank,” Ingves wrote.
Notably, the Thursday statement from the governor is his strongest point of advocacy in favor of a Swedish CBDC to date.
Ingves has asked the Swedish government to “review the concept of legal tender” and argued that the legality of e-krona is essential to equip Sweden for the inevitable digital future. The governor added that the Swedish population is increasingly ditching cash for digital payments at a rate not rivaled by any other country.
The swift shift of the Swedish populace from cash to digital payments has forced Swedish authorities to seriously look into the possibility of launching a CBDC across the Scandinavian country. It’s worthy of note that although several countries are contemplating launching their own CBDC’s, Sweden is one of the handful of nations that have actually piloted one.
The governor of Riksbank also called upon the Swedish government to address the digital shift via legislation.
“The Riksbank has not yet taken a formal decision on whether or not to issue an e-krona,” he said. “A decision to issue an e-krona requires a legal basis and political support.”
As previously reported by in December 2019, the Swedish Central Bank had announced that Accenture — an Irish-domiciled multinational professional services firm – would be its technology partner to create a pilot platform for a CBDC.
CBDC Race in Europe
The CBDC race in Europe is heating up with several nations entering the fray.
Earlier this year, the Dutch Central Bank hinted at plans for developing a Dutch CBDC.
Similarly, in July this year, the Bank of France revealed eight successful applicants to experiment with the digital Euro for interbank settlements. The eight entities include the likes of HSBC, Euroclear, and Accenture, among others.
