Central bank communication and CBDC implementation

Working paper

CBDC issuance remains rare even though central banks discuss it extensively. Using 37,814 speeches from 134 jurisdictions and a scored 2015-2025 sample of 15,906 speeches from 122 jurisdictions, the analysis builds country-year measures of CBDC commitment, technology salience, and stated constraints. Public commitment tracks agenda participation but adds little information about subsequent advancement beyond research once prior project stage is controlled for. More open capital accounts and, less consistently, greater central bank independence are negatively associated with advancement beyond research. Legal-regulatory concerns are the most consistently negative speech-based correlate.

Authors: Kansoy, F

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: University of Oxford
• Series: Department of Economics Discussion Paper Series
• Place of publication: Oxford
• Publication date: 2026-03-26
• Paper number: 1110
• Language: English
• Keywords: institutional conservatism; financial innovation; Central bank digital currency; central bank communication; text as data