from a home country perspective : first, how does each central bank ensure an adequate supply of cash to the economy? second, how important do central banks assess cash as being for the domestic economy? third, what role could cash carve out for itself in the digital era? what is striking here is that many of these countries have undergone similar developments and are facing comparable challenges with respect to their cash cycle. however, differences and national particularities are also visible in the book – not least across continents and cultures. what all g20 central banks have in common are the new challenges they will face as payments go increasingly digital. but each country's cash cycle is different, meaning that the question as to the future of money requires individual and country - specific responses. particular attention is devoted to this forward - looking perspective in the book's third part. through the interdisciplinary lens of economics, philosophy, sociology and psychology, thoughts on the role of cash as well as the money of tomorrow are raised and discussed in depth. one strong focus here is on the importance of digital forms of money, up to and including central bank digital currency. 4 conclusion ladies and gentlemen, 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches in marking the 20th anniversary of the introduction of euro banknotes and coins, we wanted to take the opportunity not only to look back but also to cast our eyes to the future. this forward - looking perspective runs through the book like a common thread. who in the future can tell us what money is? of course, no definitive answers can be given in the midst of a process of economic and also potentially societal transition, triggered not least by the pandemic. be that as it may, one lesson from history contained in the book is that the basic idea of money endures : money needs to be readily available, generally accepted and, above all, stable in value. this is more important than ever in the current environment. money is based on trust. that is what underpins our money economy today and will do so tomorrow as well. thank you. 1 the book " the euro at 20 – the future of our money ", edited by johannes beermann, is published by penguin and available in bookshops now ( isbn 978 - 3328602743 ). 2 see https : / / www. frbsf. org / wp - content / uploads / sites / 7 / 2022 - findings - from - the - diary - of - consumer - payment

enterprises more resilient. in this respect, firms are no different from banks. as a case in point, the capital ratio of german enterprises has climbed from just under 20 % to just shy of 30 % in the last ten years, which means that enterprises are more resilient to shocks. the signs of significant overvaluation are less clear - cut in the equity markets than in the bond market. volatility in these markets is relatively low, however. investors might, then, feel inclined to extrapolate the current favourable setting into the future, presuming it to be the normal state of affairs – and turn a blind eye to a possible end to this quiet spell. were this to occur, an abrupt and massive change in asset prices might disrupt the proper functioning of the entire financial system. as we have seen in the financial crisis, this might also cause liquidity to dry up. 4. the situation of german banks this brings me to the banking sector. we believe that it ’ s important for german banks and insurers to ready themselves for a possible end to the period of calm. for the most part, german banks are currently busy reducing risk and building up capital. their resilience has improved. german insurers, meanwhile, continue to follow a relatively conservative investment strategy. however, they are affected by low interest rates owing to their high guaranteed payments. given that banks are now better capitalised, they presumably might be able to withstand isolated shocks relatively well. but german banks ’ profitability remains persistently weak. ever since the 1990s, their interest margin has been diminishing – and with it, their ability to build up fresh capital by retaining earnings. the current low interest rates are amplifying this state of affairs because at the present time, banks are still reaping the benefits of the higheryielding loans they granted in the past. but one by one, these loans are maturing. bis central bankers ’ speeches 5. the german real estate market because mortgage loans account for much of the credit supplied to the private sector, this was a market we scrutinised particularly closely. price dynamics in germany over the past 20 years have been much more modest than in the euro area as a whole. but saying that, property prices in big cities really have climbed quite sharply – by just over a third since 2008 in the big cities most affected by this trend : berlin, cologne, dusseldorf, frankfurt am main, munich and stuttgart.