the role of central bank money as an anchor for the stability of the monetary system as a whole. essential for financial stability, this role is based on the central bank's unique ability to guarantee the convertibility of private money into central bank money in any situation. also, central bank money is the sole means of payment permitting transactions to be 1 / 8 bis - central bankers'speeches carried out and debts settled in any part of the euro area. both these factors lie at the heart of the security and reliability of the financial and monetary system and the public's confidence therein. this balance between private money and central bank money would be affected if the use of cash were to diminish to the point of its relegation to a relatively minor role. indeed, there might be an adverse impact on public trust in the currency and in the stability of the financial system. currently, in terms of numbers of transactions, cash remains the means of payment that is used most in the euro area for purchases at physical points of sale and person - toperson payments. however, as in the case of other daily activities, the public's preference for digital means of payment has been constantly increasing in recent years. highly revealing in this respect are the results of the latest ecb study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area. according to this study, 55 % of citizens say they prefer to use cards and other electronic means of payment for their purchases at physical points of sale. and this preference is confirmed by the evidence. the percentage of purchases paid for in cash has been declining in recent years and, especially between 2019 and 2022, during the pandemic. in this period, the use of cash at the point of sale fell by 13 percentage points ( pp ), from 72 % of all transactions in 2019 to 59 % in 2022. this decrease is also observed in the case of person - to - person payments, for which the use of cash also fell by 13 pp. in this case, however, the share of cash generally remains high and in 2022 stood at 73 % on average. as you can imagine, there are marked cross - country differences, but the decline in the use of cash is a widespread reality. that said, the study mentioned also indicates that 60 % of the population consider having the option to pay with cash to be very or fairly important. in my opinion, this figure goes to highlight the importance of continuing to guarantee access to central bank money, in its

jorgovanka tabakovic : continuous improvement of the business environment speech by dr jorgovanka tabakovic, governor of the national bank of serbia, at the meeting with the representatives of the french - serbian chamber of commerce, belgrade, 15 march 2016. * * * your excellency ms. moro, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to speak here today. first of all, i wish to thank you for organizing this event. as the governor of the national bank of serbia, i am here with my associates to share with you the experience of our past cooperation with entities founded by investors from the french republic, and to ensure this cooperation grows further in the period ahead. as the central bank of this country, we have had the opportunity to influence not only financial and banking cooperation, but also, indirectly, economic cooperation with the french republic, and we will be glad to do so in the future as well. france has traditionally been a friend of serbia, and that is something our people, with a history riddled with tremendous challenges, will never forget. not far away from here stands the impressive monument of our gratitude to france. our future cooperation, in the spirit of modern times, will definitely focus on the economy, especially as france is a respectable member of the european union, to which we also aspire. for that reason in particular, we are happy to see every french investment in serbia and each type of economic association, such as this joint chamber of commerce. data collected and published by the french - serbian chamber of commerce reveal a very positive trend in the field of economic cooperation, especially during the last couple of years. there is, however, room for further growth, and that is, among other things, why we are here today. as you well know, the national bank of serbia is an institution with broad powers, each of which we seek to exercise with a maximum degree of professionalism and coordination, in order to achieve the best results. speaking of french investment in the services sector, i must definitely single out financial services which are the subject of direct supervision of the national bank of serbia and include, in particular, commercial banking, insurance, financial leasing, and voluntary pension funds. i am happy to say that serbia saw direct investments in each of the above areas through the establishment of companies with majority french capital. french investors were among the first to enter serbia ’ s commercial banking sector and have so far achieved stable performances and an excellent reputation. with