As cyberwarfare threat looms, cashless Nordic nations go back to banknotes | Mir

Sweden and Norway, two of the world's most cashless societies, are now encouraging citizens to hold and use cash as a civil defence measure. Sweden's central bank reports that only one in 10 purchases are made with cash, and that Sweden and Norway have the lowest cash in circulation as a percentage of GDP in the world. In November, Sweden's defence ministry sent every home a brochure advising people to keep a minimum of a week's supply of cash. In December, a government inquiry proposed that some public and private agents be required to accept cash, a recommendation the central bank says should be implemented. Norway passed legislation allowing retailers to be fined or sanctioned for refusing cash, and former minister Emilie Mehl warned that cash will not work in a crisis unless people keep using it.