The Central Bank of Norway stated that there is no need to launch a digital currency at this time, and the CBDC project is temporarily "shelved."

According to Odaily Planet Daily, after years of research, the Norwegian central bank announced that there is currently no need to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), arguing that Norway's domestic payment system is already "efficient and secure" and has robust contingency mechanisms.

Despite Norway having one of the lowest cash usage rates in the world, which has drawn significant attention to discussions about digital currencies, the central bank believes that the current system is still able to meet demand.

Norwegian Central Bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache stated:

"If the need to maintain the efficiency and security of the payment system arises in the future, we will be ready to launch a CBDC at any time."

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

In the Nordic region, the political climate regarding digital currencies has been relatively cautious. Although Sweden wavered early on, the Swedish central bank still called for a restart of discussions on the e-krona; the European Central Bank plans to launch a pilot program for the digital euro as early as 2027, with a possible official issuance in 2029.

The Central Bank of Norway 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, and will continue to study tokenization and various forms of digital currency. (bloomberg)