Turning to the assets side, we come to the use of the euro as an investment currency. Unfortunately, statistical evidence is generally limited here. An analysis conducted by the ECB indicates that there was some growth in the use of the euro as an international investment currency over the course of 1999.
In the banking sector, the volume of international assets denominated in euro increased only slightly, roughly in line with developments on the liabilities side. One might try to examine the link between the role of the euro in international financial markets and recent trends in the euro area’s balance of payments. Of course, there is no one-to-one correspondence between the two concepts.