Let me emphasise, first of all, that a digital euro would in fact increase privacy in digital payments. As a public and independent institution, the ECB has no interest in monetising or even collecting users’ payment data. A digital euro would therefore allow people to make payments without sharing their data with third parties, other than what is required by regulation.
The reality is that when the shortfall in desired spending is large or arises quite quickly, as was the case last year when businesses slashed their investment plans in light of a perceived overhang of capital, the initial monetary policy offset can be only partial and not necessarily synchronous.