FRT welcomes Stefan Ingves, Governor of the Riksbank (the central bank of Sweden) and former Chair of the Basel Committee. Stefan joins us to discuss Sweden's "cashless" economy and the underlying prerequisites of an early adapter population, strong telecommunications infrastructure, trust for banks and supervision, and a legal framework that is conducive for innovation. We also discuss the potential impacts for financial inclusion or exclusion and accessibility across urban and rural communities.

With the potential eKrona development, we discuss the critical value judgments of citizens’ ability to hold central bank claims in a cashless economy, weighed against potential stability concerns. These are significant design issues for Central Bank Digital Currencies, and for the modernization of central bank mandates in a digital economy.

Stefan also reflects on his 8 years as Chair of the Basel Committee steering through some significant reforms, and we discuss the famous Swedish ship ‘Vasa’ that featured as a metaphor in his famous 2015 Madrid speech.