Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel: Will not decide whether to launch central bank digital currency before the European Central Bank

According to Foresight News, Andrew Abir, deputy governor of the Bank of Israel, said that the Bank of Israel will not decide whether to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC) before the European Central Bank. Andrew Abir said, "We are all waiting for the first Western central bank to pull the trigger, almost certainly the European Central Bank, and then you may see a large number of countries take action."

The move comes after the Bank of Israel launched the Digital Shekel Challenge a few weeks ago to develop uses for the currency in the payments sector.