France to Test Digital Currency in the First Quarter of 2020

The digital currency race is building up and every country wants to take part in it. Now, Banque De France, France’s central bank, has announced plans to begin testing the digital currency in the first quarter of 2020. 

According to AFP, pressure from Facebook’s Libra and related initiatives is the reason for this quickened timetable. 

#BREAKING French central bank to launch tests on digital currency from 2020: governor pic.twitter.com/vb40LKI46f

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 4, 2019

According to Francois Villeroy de Galhau, the governor of the central bank, digital currency is a point of focus for the bank. 

“We want to start running experiments rapidly and will launch a call for projects before the end of the first quarter of 2020.”

Villeroy spoke at a finance conference in Paris and said he is eager to support the use of CBDC in order to settle financial assets between the financial companies. 

“We have to make our contribution to this innovation, but in a serious and methodical way…I see an advantage in quickly moving forward to issue at least a wholesale central bank digital currency in order to be the leading issuer in the world and thus reap the benefits of having a benchmark CBDC.”

France is among several countries, including the US and China and some African countries that are experimenting with digital currencies.