As the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) has gained momentum, Nordea’s Johanna Lybeck Lilja brings the perspective from Sweden, where the Riksbank pioneering eKrona development presents learnings and highlights key design considerations for the rest of the world.

Johanna outlines the various motives for CBDCs and the financial inclusion implications, as well as the financial stability implications. We discuss the potential impacts for the stability of bank funding, the alignment with deposit insurance schemes, and ultimately for the availability and cost of credit in the economy.

Johanna also highlights the incredible payments innovation already achieved in the Nordic countries, with cash used for just 9% of purchases in Sweden and 3% in Norway, and with the region’s leading banks launching the P27 real-time cross-border payments initiative later this year.