football passes between the players of the " azzurri " or the " dfb - elf " when they're in top form. and, most importantly, it is my fervent hope that the general public will be as happy about the digital euro as football fans from around the world would be about a european championship final between italy and germany. ladies and gentlemen, in turbulent times like ours, it is our duty to stand up for our convictions. with regard to the digital euro i am profoundly convinced that this project 5 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches will be an economic success, that it will deepen the cooperation and friendship between italy and germany and that it will connect the people of europe even further. many thanks for your attention. 1 see ecb ( 2023 ), a stocktake on the digital euro, summary report on the investigation phase and outlook on the next phase, 18 october 2023. 2 see european commission ( 2023 ), proposal for a regulation of the european parliament and of the council on the establishment of the digital euro, com ( 2023 ) 369 final. 3 see eurosystem proceeds to next phase of digital euro project ( europa. eu ). 4 see ecb ( 2022 ), study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area ( space ). 5 according to the cbdc tracker, the bahamas, jamaica, nigeria and zimbabwe have already introduced cbdcs. a further 21 countries have launched a pilot cbdc and 27 countries are working on a proof of concept. see central bank digital currency ( cbdc ) tracker ( cbdctracker. org ). 6 see bidder, r. et al. ( 2024 ), cbdc and banks : disintermediating fast and slow, deutsche bundesbank discussion paper no 15 / 2024. 7 see meller, b. and o. soons, know your ( holding ) limits : cbdc, financial stability and central bank reliance, ecb occasional paper series no 326. 8 see bidder, r et al. ( 2024 ) op. cit. 9 see harari, y. ( 2018 ), sapiens : a brief history of mankind. new york : harper perennial. 10 see european commission, op. cit. 11 see panetta, f. ( 2023 ), shaping europe's digital future : the path towards a digital euro, introductory statement by fabio panetta, member of the executive board

the increases in supply created by these regulatory changes will be enough to satisfy local demand. i ’ ve mentioned the impact of monetary policy on housing markets, now let me touch on the role of fiscal policy. the rescue plan passed by the congress in 2020, consisting of stimulus payments, grants to small businesses to maintain their payrolls, and supplemental unemployment benefits, surely helped many people who lost income during the pandemic continue to pay their rent and mortgages. rental delinquency only increased a bit during the first year of the pandemic, and although mortgage non - payment increased by a larger amount, it remained well below the level experienced in the great recession. another policy tool that was used quite effectively in the earlier stages of the pandemic was mortgage forbearance. borrowers with government - backed and federallyinsured mortgages were given up to 18 months of forbearance, and many private lenders also offered forbearance. indications are that the extra time this bought for borrowers really helped. many borrowers who exited forbearance in 2021 were able to resume making payments, or, in the hot housing market, were able to sell their homes and walk away with equity. for other borrowers, simple mortgage modification plans have helped - 10 mortgage servicers to quickly and easily modify mortgages to help people stay in their homes at a lower monthly payment. that said, we must remember that there are institutions on the other side of the mortgage forbearance process. servicers of mortgages in mbs pools are required to continue to make payments to the investors who hold these securities, even when they are not receiving payments from the borrower. banks were well - prepared to extend forbearance because of their access to an array of liquidity sources such as deposits, the federal home loan bank system, and the fed ’ s discount window. moreover, many banks entered the pandemic with a strong capital position and improved risk management practices as a result of changes after the global financial crisis. however, more than half of mortgages are serviced by nonbanks, which do not have access to the same liquidity sources as banks. so, the announcement of forbearance in 2020 caused an acute concern about liquidity for nonbanks. thankfully, a large wave of mortgage refinancing helped to provide nonbank servicers the needed liquidity. 10 in addition, a facility created by ginnie mae to