ECB’s Christine Lagarde Says Digital Euro Should Launch Within Four Years: Report

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde says the digital euro will be launched in the middle of this decade.

• In an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Lagarde said if ECB policy makers give the digital currency project the green light this summer then the digital currency will be rolled out within four years.
• “We need to make sure that we do it right. We owe it to the Europeans. The whole process, let's be realistic about it, will in my view take another four years, maybe a little more,” said Lagarde.
• In January, the European Commission and the ECB teamed up to consider potential issues that could arise from the digital euro before a decision is made to kick off development this summer.
• The ECB said it will release the feedback on the potential launch of the digital currency from a public consultation in which 8,000 participants responded.
• This will be sent to the European Parliament and then the ECB’s decision-making Governing Council to decide whether to move forward with its practical experimentation of the digital euro.
• In March the Central Bank of the Bahamas started the rollout of its digital currency dubbed the “Sand Dollar,” which the ECB will be closely monitoring.

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