Around 80 billion euros a year goes on debt service – this is more than 10% of the annual budget, which is not being spent on education or infrastructure. On top of this, future generations will face a number of hidden costs that have not yet been factored into the debt figures.
Just last week, for example, experts from the Bundesbank and the Banca d’Italia came together to exchange ideas on the possibilities for settling securities in central bank money using innovative market solutions based on distributed ledger technology (DLT).1 Ladies and gentlemen, Payment systems are just one example of the especially close cooperation between Germany 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  and Italy within the Eurosystem.