Sweden seeks to allay CBDC concerns by saying it has no ‘interest in looking at how people pay for things’

Head of Swedish Central Bank’s digital currency project, Mithra Sunberg commented on the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and said that the country doesn’t care about how people issue their payments, as reported by DL News.

Sunberg acknowledged that people feel agitated about CBDCs because they think it will increase government’s control on money movements, according to DL News.

Trying to calm the nerves, Sunberg stated:

“Neither the state nor the central bank have any interest in looking at how people pay for things.

Privacy is an extremely important question when you’re talking about all types of digital monies.”

Sweden ran CBDC tests for international and retail remittance payments in Sept. 2022. In December 2022, the Swedish central bank said it is “ready to be able to issue an e-Krona.”

Regardless, Sunberg spoke as if a final decision hasn’t been made yet about the e-Krona. According to the Swedish central bank, an ideal flow wouldn’t put the bank in contact with the end customer. “We work somehow through intermediaries,” Sunberg said, but the question of  “who does what” is still yet to be answered.

She also added that the topic of CBDC “remains a topical subject” for Sweden. Therefore, even though it will rank high in the central bank’s agenda, it will still be a question.

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