French central bank to launch tests on digital currency

Galhau emphasised that the work on the central bank digital currency would be of benefit to the whole eurozone and eventually could lead to a an 'e-euro'. — AFP

France's central bank will next year launch a call for projects to develop a digital currency, its governor said Wednesday, as concern grows among EU governments over new currencies planned by Facebook and others.

"We want to start running experiments rapidly and will launch a call for projects before the end of the first quarter of 2020," said Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau, saying central banks had to meet the challenge of the possible creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC).