Riksbank Deputy Governor Says Sweden’s Cash-Light Status Matters

Riksbank Deputy Gov. Per Jansson said Sweden’s low use of cash matters, as the central bank has asked lawmakers to examine legal preparations for a possible digital krona. The Riksbank has not decided whether to issue one, and Parliament’s consent would be required.

“Sweden is a very cash-light society, and that matters,” Jansson said Oct. 22. In the Riksbank’s survey, 5% of respondents said cash was used for their last in-store purchase in 2025, compared with 10% in 2023. The figures describe those respondents’ most recent in-store purchases, not all payments or total payment volume.

The Riksbank made its proposal in an Oct. 7 letter to Parliament’s Finance Committee. The request is part of the Riksbank’s earlier proposal for legal preparations. The bank wants a public inquiry to examine what legal changes a digital krona would require. On Oct. 20, the committee listed the letter among incoming correspondence; its minutes did not record approval of an inquiry.

The Riksbank has raised concerns about foreign-currency stablecoins, which are digital tokens designed to maintain a value tied to another currency. If they become attractive for payments, the bank says, they could put pressure on the krona. It considers the risk insignificant in the near term but says it should not be ignored over the longer term.

The bank estimates that implementation by the Riksbank and the payment market would take at least five years, separate from the time required to pass legislation. That estimate is not a full launch timetable. Parliament would first need to authorize issuance, and the Riksbank has yet to decide whether Sweden should introduce a digital krona.

A Swedish government inquiry in 2023 found no sufficiently strong societal need for an e-krona at that time. It allowed that changing circumstances could prompt a reassessment. The Riksbank has described possible offline payments during electricity or telecommunications outages, as well as using digital-euro infrastructure by agreement with the European Central Bank (ECB); neither is an approved design decision.

The ECB aims to be ready for a possible first digital-euro issuance during 2029 if the necessary regulation is adopted by the end of 2026. It plans a 12-month pilot starting in the second half of 2027. The ECB has said it will not decide whether to issue a digital euro until the regulation is adopted.