Nonetheless, econometric estimates by the Bank of Italy show that the collapse of corporate investment in Italy since 2007 was aggravated at the height of the crisis by financial factors, namely tightening in banks’ lending standards and the surge in the user cost of capital.
Some 76% of all transactions in the euro area are carried out in cash, amounting to more than half of the total value of all payments.3 The demand for cash in the euro area currently outstrips the rate of nominal GDP growth. In crisis times, the demand for cash surges even higher.