2024-01-12 17:31:22
Published12. January 2024, 6:31 p.m.
Purchasing: Sweden wants to make it easier to use cash
Paying in cash has become a rare commodity in the Scandinavian country. The government wants to encourage cash to buy medicine, food and fuel.
Food and drinks should be able to be paid for in cash in Sweden.
AFP
The Swedish government wants to make it easier to use cash to buy basic necessities, such as food or fuel, it said on Friday. In the country, cash is scarce.
“We need to quickly re-examine the possibility of paying for certain goods in cash, especially because there are categories of people who, for various reasons, have difficulty using digital payment methods,” said Niklas Wykman, Minister of Markets. financial. It is also important to look into the issue for the purposes of preparing for times of crisis, he stressed.
“It is difficult to pay with cash in Sweden today.”
Dennis Dioukarev, chairman of the parliamentary inquiry committee
Only 8% of Swedes paid cash for recent purchases in 2022, compared to almost 40% in 2010, according to a survey by the Swedish central bank, the Riksbank.
ATM withdrawals increased by 30%
But since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the few distributors still in operation have been stormed: withdrawals have increased by 30% in the country, according to the government. This trend has also been observed in other European countries, such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, according to the European Association of Transport and Couriering.
It must therefore be possible to pay for certain products, such as medicines, food and fuel, using cash, believes Stockholm, which has launched a parliamentary commission of inquiry on this subject.
Do not depend on a single payment system
“It is difficult to pay with cash in Sweden today,” said Dennis Dioukarev, head of the commission, at the same press conference, noting that around a million Swedes suffered from digital exclusion. . He stressed the importance of not depending on a single payment system, especially in times of crisis.
The Swedish Civil Protection Agency recommends always having cash on hand in the event of a crisis or war, and lists the advantages of this means of payment considered anachronistic in the country. The commission of inquiry must deliver its opinion on December 31.
(afp)
1705103523
#Sweden #easier #cash
