If the Riksbank launches an e-krona with a positive interest rate, it can in some situations be very attractive for both the general public and companies to convert their account balances in the banks to e-krona with the Riksbank. The banking system could then be drained of the funding for its lending, and become unstable, which could damage the supply of credit in the economy. In addition to the questions I have just mentioned, there are a number of other questions, such as technological solutions, consumer integrity and how a solution can be adapted to suite different groups in society. As you hear, I have only been able to take up a lot of questions here. I don't have all the answers. And I don’t think anyone else has at present. The only thing we can be fairly certain of is that whatever direction the Riksbank chooses to take - whether or not to issue e-krona - it can have a major impact on the payment market, the banks’ business models, the way interest rate setting functions, financial stability, and so on. The Riksbank will investigate e-krona Now I have given my view on the situation for Sweden as one of the countries where the use of cash is declining the most and the fastest and where the general public are finding it increasingly difficult to get access to central bank money.
This includes the banks’ deposits in the Riksbank overnight through the Riksbank's deposit facility and fine-tuning transactions in RIX, shown in the chart as MP debt (debt related to monetary policy transactions, see the Riksbank's Annual Report 2015). During the day, the banks have pledged assets and received liquidity in RIX. The average value of the collateral provided was SEK 112 billion during the second four months (see RIX four-month report 2, 2016). These are reported as funds in accounts in the chart. 4 If we look at the value of the payments between households, companies and a uthorities, it amounts to a total of SEK 14,000-15,000 billion a year, of which perhaps SEK 200 billion is in cash. In shops, almost one in seven payments is made in cash. More than half of the adult population has the Swish payment app. 4 [10]  the chart (Figure 1) and it shows clearly how cash in relation to GDP has declined substantially since 1950, when it comprised almost 10% of GDP, compared with around 1.5 per cent today. The blue line is the nominal demand for cash outside of the banking sector, that is, the cash held by companies, households and authorities. Demand from the general public has fallen from SEK 97 billion in 2007 to around SEK 61 billion today. This is a marked decline in just a few years. Similarly, the withdrawals from ATMs give some indication.