Mr. Gerry Cross:

In the context of the ongoing work involved in the consideration of the development of a digital euro, in a way it seems like a relatively simple question. Everything is electronic these days and most of our money is electronic, so why is it such a big deal to move to a digital euro? As the Deputy intimated, it is a really big question because there are all sorts of implications to be considered. The Deputy referred to one such precise implication, which is whether it would involve moving to a situation where consumers and anyone else using money have their account directly with the ECB. That could be the case. It could also be the case that there may be a level of potential intrusiveness by the State and the authorities in respect of information. There is a whole issue in respect data and privacy that is really important and difficult to get to grips with. There is a question in respect of what it means for the banking system and the payment system and how should we think about that. One way to think about it is as a natural evolution. Banks were developed to solve a particular issue at a particular time. Things have now moved on and the way we can do money has moved on and banks, therefore, may need to evolve to reflect that.

All of these questions are at the heart of the debate that is going on right now in the ECB and the European system of central banks. We are totally involved in that discussion. We take part in the various standing committees, working groups and projects that are under way precisely to work out how it should work and what the choices are. Of course, there is the whole issue of how it works technologically. We need to consider what the choices are in respect of these types of issues. For example, if banks will no longer play their previous role in the context of payments because that can be done directly through the ECB, will that bring banks back more towards their credit intermediation role? To be clear, I do not have answers to these questions. They are precisely the questions that are being considered now. We are very involved in that and the ECB is looking at it with quite a degree of momentum.