Our job is to concentrate in the first place on monetary policy and the difficult systemic questions in the financial world. We have therefore decided to sell the Tumba works. In our opinion, the enterprise deserves owners that are more professional than the Riksbank. Moreover, our distribution system has been transformed into a limited company, Pengar i Sverige AB (PSAB), literally, Money in Sweden Limited. A major reconstruction has been completed and we now count on being able to sell the company at a good price. All in all, the focus on our core activities has enabled us to cut the number of employees, which at present is about 450. This can be compared with a figure between 15,000 and 16,000 for the Bundesbank or the Banque de France. In relation to the population, the corresponding number for the Riksbank would be almost 2,500. Bear in mind, too, that many of our functions have little or nothing to do with the size of the population. Strength and security As a newcomer I found that in certain respects the Riksbank resembled a traditional Swedish industrial estate. Those establishments were stable and often highly professional in their field, which might be high-grade steel or paper; but they also tended to be run autocratically and resist change. Central banks have also lived a closed existence, with a corporate spirit that was both good and bad.
See Panetta, F. (2022), “A digital euro that serves the needs of the public: striking the right balance”, introductory statement at the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament, Brussels, 30 March and ECB (2022), “Digital euro – Privacy options”, presentation to the Eurogroup, 4 April. 4. Panetta, F. (2022), op. cit. 5. Consumers are already increasingly turning to non-cash payments. Only 20% of the cash stock is now used for payments, down from 35% 15 years ago. See Zamora-Pérez, A. (2021), “The paradox of banknotes: understanding the demand for cash beyond transactional use”, Economic Bulletin, Issue 2, ECB, Frankfurt am Main. 6. We are accustomed to using private and public forms of money interchangeably. Euro banknotes and coins are legal tender in the euro area, and cash is the only form of public money to which everyone can have direct access. Confidence in private money – bank deposits, credit cards and e-payment solutions – rests on the ability to convert it, at par, into public money. This allows payment systems to run smoothly and commerce to flow. 7. Panetta, F. (2021), “Central bank digital currencies: a monetary anchor for digital innovation”, speech at the Elcano Royal Institute, Madrid, 5 November. 8. Panetta, F. (2021), “The present and future of money in the digital age”, lecture at Federcasse’s Lectiones cooperativae, Rome, 10 December. 9.