euro, ii including through regular exchanges with consumer associations, merchants and financial players, and the testing of dedicated prototypes. iii to put it in a nutshell, the e - euro will be a digital banknote, or ‘ cash + ’. naturally, it will feature the same characteristics as existing cash. notably, it will ensure privacy, iv with the offline functionality ensuring the highest level of confidentiality ; it will be the safest of assets ; thanks to its likely legal tender status v, it will be accepted everywhere across the euro area ; and its basic functionalities will be free of charge for individuals. vi but ‘ cash + ’, bringing significant advantages compared with banknotes : it will allow each and every one to use central bank money in e - commerce, in remote peer - to - peer payments, as well as for conditional payments. i think it ’ s our duty to build this capacity for our fellow citizens, but it will be their freedom to use it. the digital euro will offer european citizens an additional option in the way they make purchases and transactions, and they will determine the pace of its development, and its ‘ market share ’. a digital euro will not replace physical cash or other forms of money, and this brings me to this alleged ‘ competition ’ issue. money is and will remain a public - private partnership for a long time now, money has been a public - private partnership. we need the skills of both sides : the agility, innovations, customer relations of commercial banks ; and the trust and stability guaranteed by central banks. yes, digital commercial bank money already exists, and is usually regarded as safe as central bank money ; it will remain very significant in payment amounts, and you may possibly develop tokenised deposits. but the trust commercial bank money inspires is not only due to each bank ’ s private signature ; it ’ s anchored by its full equivalence and permanent convertibility, 1 : 1, to the public money issued by the page 5 of 6 central bank. loosing this public anchor – in a world of digital payments without cbdc – would sooner or later mean undermining this private trust ; think of the 19th century in the united states, before the fed, where there were regularly confidence crises. to make it crystal - clear, a digital euro will not lead to disintermediation. it will be distributed through banks : we central banks have absolutely no intention to open private accounts. in response to some other worries, there will

make 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches reforms a reality. the symposium will discuss both immediate issues, such as strengthening external resilience, as well as long - term structural issues such as our labour market and the role of finance in our economy. ladies and gentlemen, sasana symposium is more than just keynotes and in - depth, technical discussions. the symposium is also about demonstrating how reforms and policy are more than just abstract concepts and ideas, about how reforms can make a positive impact in the lives of malaysians. for example, itekad, a social finance programme which we launched at the height of the pandemic has been making inroads. we're happy to share today that over six thousand small and micro businesses have benefitted from itekad, with them seeing almost a 90 % increase in monthly sales and creating job opportunities in their communities. i would like to invite you to drop by the itekad marketplace – just outside our museum and art gallery – to meet microentrepreneurs that have gained from the itekad programme. itekad is a human example of how the public and private sector can come together to make a meaningful, lasting impact in the lives and livelihoods of malaysians. ladies and gentlemen, to conclude, sasana symposium was originally conceived as a platform for discussing key issues and research of our flagship publications – the annual report, the economic and monetary review and the financial stability review. our experience last year proved that this was an impactful occasion for us to engage the public in meaningful dialogue, and exchange perspectives on our work and thinking to promote monetary and financial stability for sustainable economic growth in malaysia. my hope is that you will leave sasana symposium with a better appreciation of what we do, and your part in helping us secure a better future for all malaysians. thank you. 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches