It’s no secret that Germany loves cash. However, the pandemic and the new focus on hygiene showed that even in the Federal Republic, cashless payments can also be interesting for payments of less than €10. In Germany, just over 50 % of all payments are currently still settled using cash. In a few years’ time, it should also be possible to pay with the digital euro. Burkhard Balz, Executive Board member at the Deutsche Bundesbank, is jointly responsible for the digital currency project. On the fringes of the Ludwig-Erhard summit, he revealed in an interview with Frankfurter Rundschau what can be expected and why cash lovers actually have reason to be cheerful.

Die Finanzsanktionen gegen Cyberangriffe, die die Union oder ihre Mitgliedstaaten bedrohen, dienen der Durchführung von Maßnahmen der Europäischen Union.

Am 22. April 2025 beschloss der EZB-Rat nach der jährlichen Überprüfung dieser Verzeichnisse, das Verzeichnis der von der EZB zugelassenen nicht geregelten Märkte und das Verzeichnis der von der EZB anerkannten Institutionen mit öffentlichem Förderauftrag, die für eine Teilnahme am Sicherheitenrahmen des Eurosystems zugelassen sind, unverändert zu belassen.

Bundesbank’s external position stood at €853 billion at the end of April 2025, with claims from the TARGET2 payment system worth €1075 billion making up around 71 % of total assets. These are followed by international reserves, comprising gold and foreign exchange reserves, including the special drawing rights allocated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which account for a total of 20 % of assets. At 85 %, issuance of euro cash accounted for the bulk of liabilities. Deposits of non-euro area residents amount to 7 % of foreign liabilities.