* * * In Italy the monetary policy approach that has been followed in the last few years, and will be maintained in the coming years, is aimed at convincing market participants, workers and businessmen that increases in income can only be achieved by expanding economic activity.
This makes it important for banks to remain agile in the face of these changes and to endeavour to meet their customers’ wishes. We currently witness frequent lobbying, overt and covert, to abolish cash. I won’t dwell today on the plausibility of the justifications proposed, except to note that such lobbying fails to respect the will of the general population: cash remains popular.