TL:DR Breakdown
- German finance minister wants the ECB to speed up their work for launching a digital Euro.
- He pointed out in a conference today that there is a high demand for digital payment solutions.
The quest for central bank digital currency (CBDC) grows stronger as the public continues to search for more solutions to digital payment. In order to meet the increasing demand for digital money, the German’s Federal Minister of Finance, Olaf Scholz, urged the European Central Bank on Friday to step-up their preparation for the digital Euro. He explained that digital currency would play a very important role in improving both local and international payments.
ECB should work hard on the digital Euro
The German finance minister made his thoughts known during an online conference today about the future of payments in the continent, Europe. He pointed out that several businesses and consumers are showing high interest in digital money. On this note, he stated that the central bank should increase their works in establishing a solution to digital payments.
“On the digital Euro, I think we should work very hard. It is nothing where we should wait and see,” the finance minister said. “(We) should be able to decide at any time that now we should do something with a digital euro.”
ECB public consultation on CBDC
Central bank digital currency comes with its benefits for the users. As the minister explained, a digital Euro can enable the public to process payment both online and possibly offline. Launching a digital Euro would also raise the competition for other digital payments, including cryptocurrencies and internet banks.
European Central Bank is among the biggest central banks with plans to launch a digital currency. Earlier in November, ECB announced it would open public consultation for the proposed digital Euro. The program was aimed to ascertain the minds and knowledge of the public about CBDCs and possibly challenges associated with them.
