a growing trend towards cashless payments in europe for many years now. the trend accelerated most recently in the wake of the covid - 19 pandemic. in germany, for instance, the share of cash transactions in consumers ’ daily payments has fallen to 58 percent, [ 5 ] compared with 74 percent in 2017. at the same time, e - commerce is booming. our regular payment behaviour study shows that online purchases as a percentage of recorded turnover quadrupled between 2017 and 2021. every fourth euro is now being spent online, with a strong market share held by paypal. a digital euro would preserve access to secure central bank money for everyone in the digital world. if cash usage for payments continues to decline, it will put the role of public money, the very bedrock of our monetary system, at risk. the convertibility of private money into public money is an important cornerstone of our two - tiered monetary system. it builds confidence in our monetary system and, consequently, our payments system as well. the third reason is that a digital euro might support digital processes in various aspects. for instance, intermediaries could have the option of offering innovative payment solutions based on cbdc. by providing a programmable and secure digital infrastructure, cbdcs open up a world of possibilities for the development of new financial products and services. smart contracts for automated autonomous payments, decentralised finance, and micropayments are just a few examples of the innovative applications that one could imagine thriving in a future cbdc ecosystem. 3 the “ recipe for success ” for a digital euro but how could a digital euro become a success? more precisely, how should it be designed so as to add value to the existing payments ecosystem? this is exactly what we are currently working on in the digital euro project. since october 2021, experts from the ecb and national central banks have been collaborating in an investigation phase set to last 24 months. the results of how a digital euro might be designed will therefore be presented to the ecb governing council in october of this year. the bundesbank is closely involved in the project. i myself am a member of the high - level task force on cbdc, the highest steering committee of the project. in fact, it will take multiple ingredients to make the digital euro a success. just like a boerewors needs its specific ingredients, such as coriander and nutmeg, to taste like the traditional south african sausage that it is. in my view

some creditor countries this is challenging. it is difficult to ask voters in a country where average public sector wages are around €1000 per month, like in estonia or slovakia, to lend to a country where those wages are on average around €3000. the same holds true for emerging countries outside the euro area who participate in the financial assistance for greece via the imf. some of those even went through very painful but ultimately successful adjustment programmes themselves ; take brazil for example. if those countries help nonetheless, it is reasonable that, in return, they expect greece to stick to its promises. not because of any desire to control the greek economy. but because solidarity has to go both ways, and a precondition for solidarity is solidity. getting the programme back on track so my point is this : the new government should not lose precious time looking to avoid or loosen the programme. it should instead focus on how to maximise the effectiveness of reforms. and the key to this is much stronger programme ownership. we know from experience in latvia, ireland and portugal that ownership is a crucial ingredient for success. the new government, with a sufficient majority in parliament, has an opportunity to do this from “ day one ”. this would give the single biggest boost to growth by removing the uncertainty that is paralysing the economy. concretely, this means • identifying measures to close the large fiscal gap in 2013 – 14 ; • making up for delays in tax administration reform ; • resuming the stalled privatisation process ; • implementing the legislated labour market reforms ; and • revitalising reforms to liberalise product and services markets, starting with the full liberalisation of the closed professions and the complete implementation of the business friendly greece action plan. bis central bankers ’ speeches in other words, restoring confidence in greece has to begin at home. and to do this effectively, authorities have to make the case more strongly for reform. they have to be clear that it is not for the troika, or for any european leader, but for the good of greece and its future. this is a sine qua non for greece to restore fiscal sustainability and competitiveness. 2. what the rest of the euro area can do to restore confidence restoring confidence for the euro area is, of course, now a bigger challenge than resolving the greek crisis. other member states and the european institutions also have an important role to play. measures in other member states many euro area governments have avoided dealing with problems