A digital euro would bring important benefits in this context. It would level the playing field by allowing intermediaries – including small ones, which are typically less able to keep pace with innovation – to offer more technologically advanced products at a competitive price. And it would enable innovative payment solutions to be quickly scaled up to cover the entire euro area.
Imports, after having increased rapidly until mid-1996 due partly to a growth in imports from the overseas subsidiaries of Japanese manufacturers, have leveled off recently reflecting the depreciation of the yen. Under these circumstances, the key issue for the time being is how the recent currency and financial instability in Southeast Asia will affect Japan’s exports and imports and its economy as a whole.