Bank of Israel: Will not launch digital shekel before ECB launches CBDC

Andrew Abir, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, stated that the Bank of Israel will not decide whether to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) before the European Central Bank. Several weeks ago, the Bank of Israel announced the launch of the Digital Shekel Challenge as part of an "action plan that may lead to the issuance of a digital shekel" to develop uses in the payment field, but reiterated that it has not yet done so.