joachim nagel : ensuring the supply of cash – including in times of crisis welcome message by dr joachim nagel, president of the deutsche bundesbank, at the 2023 symposium " ensuring the supply of cash – including in times of crisis ", berlin, 15 june 2023. * * * check against delivery 1 welcome ladies and gentlemen, a very warm welcome to our symposium on ensuring the supply of cash – including in times of crisis. i'm glad you could make it! as the world around us becomes increasingly digital, it's often the case that payment instruments other than cash, like cards, smartphones and online payments, grab all the attention. that's why some regard cash as outdated – just as bicycles were considered old - fashioned when cars and motorcycles became more widespread, or printed books in the era of e - books. but the truth of the matter is that cash continues to be fairly popular here in germany. in terms of transaction numbers, cash remains the most widely used means of payment at the point of sale, as our latest payment behaviour study shows. 2 payment behaviour in germany will things stay that way? that depends on whether the trend decline in cash use will continue and what shape it takes. even before the coronavirus pandemic struck, the share of transactions settled in cash was in slow but steady decline. that downturn then gained traction as the pandemic played out. recent analyses indicate that the trend towards cashless payments will continue, but not at the same pace as during the pandemic. it is interesting to note that although the take - up of cash is shrinking, the volume of cash in circulation has increased by an average of 6 % each year over the past ten years. that's because cash isn't used just for payments. it also serves as a store of value – and increasingly so. this bears testament to the high level of public confidence in the euro itself and in euro cash in particular. but precautionary demand for money is a factor, too. and judging by the nationwide disruptions experienced by certain card terminals in may and june last year, that sense of caution is not entirely without reason. by the way, those disruptions were caused by a software bug. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches roughly one - quarter of the people affected by these outages had to either pause their purchases or even abandon them altogether because they did not have enough cash with them. most people were able to

account and if programmes are so detailed that the country in question no longer has any freedom of action. in that respect, the imf was on the wrong path. things are changing at present, however. i fully support the strategy of focusing in future more on the objectives of securing the borrowing country's ownership and of dispensing with detailed requirements for implementation ( technical assistance should continue however ). but let us not deceive ourselves : the freedom of a patient is limited in any case. it may become even smaller, if the imf keeps out completely. the constraints of the facts may be overwhelming. diseases are likely to take their toll. on the other hand, there is certainly a realistic chance that healing powers are at work. these powers, however, have to be actively supported by the patient ( with or without the imf ). ix much has been done with regard to “ private sector involvement ” ( psi ). but we have not yet arrived at final conclusions. sometimes it seems that this is only a matter of crisis solution. in fact, however, it is not. it is, in my view, predominantly a matter of crisis prevention. that is because the manner of operating in the event of crisis has a crucial influence on expectations. these, in turn, determine the actions of investors at a very early stage and thus the scale of the risks and of susceptibility to crisis. short - term financial assistance from the imf in the event of crisis may be essential, both for the countries directly affected and, as a result of contagion, for the rest of the world. a regular bail - out of the private sector, however, is likely to be counter - productive : · it may have a detrimental effect on the risk - awareness of private investors and obscure the optimal allocation of resources ; · large - scale financial packages may support unsustainable exchange rates ; · large - scale financing by the imf brings about financial burdens that cannot be covered by the fund ’ s resources ; · and, last but not least, endless financing may encourage resistance to the implementation of reforms. my conclusion at this point : the role of the imf should be predominantly a catalytic one. for that purpose, the fund ’ s main instruments should be convincing advice and programmes, not money. priority has to be given to the private market participants. the leitmotif of the fund has to be “ bail - in ”, not “ bail - out