Andrew Arbier, 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. A few weeks ago, the Bank of Israel announced the launch of the digital shekel challenge as part of an "action plan for the possible issuance of digital shekels" to develop uses in the payment sector, but at the time reiterated that it had not yet done so.