Bas Ter Weel: Resilient Payments - Cash, Card, Connected
In its 2026‑2028 payment strategy, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) emphasizes a resilient, secure and inclusive payments ecosystem. The plan keeps cash as a fallback—Dutch households hold about €70 per adult and €30 per child (≈$77/$33) for three‑day digital outages—while cutting reliance on non‑European tech providers. It also pushes a pan‑Euro digital euro, backed by research on consumer preferences, and prioritizes payment literacy and fraud prevention. DNB calls for coordinated action across central banks, fintechs and retailers to safeguard Europe’s payment autonomy.
Swaminathan J: AI in Finance – What Can Change, What Must Never Change
Dr S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, Vice‑Chancellor of SASTRA University, warned that artificial intelligence can radically improve Indian banking—through multilingual chatbots, alternative‑data credit scoring, fraud detection and compliance automation—while stressing that the technology must remain fair, transparent and humane. He highlighted five key risks: bias,...
Richard Byles: Redefining Economic Leadership - Building Resilient Financial Ecosystems in Emerging Markets
Governor Richard Byles of the Bank of Jamaica called for a redefinition of economic leadership that prioritises resilient financial ecosystems over traditional growth metrics. He highlighted Jamaica’s record $6.8 billion foreign‑reserve buffer, a calibrated risk‑based adoption of Basel III, and the transition...
Dimitar Radev: Economic Prospects in an Uncertain Global Environment
Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev warned that the war‑driven energy shock is shifting Bulgaria’s outlook from modest growth and low inflation to a baseline of about 3 % GDP growth and 3.7 % inflation in 2026. While 2025 saw 3.2 % growth...
Jorgovanka Tabaković: EU Economy and Global Economic Developments
Serbian central bank Governor Jorgovanka Tabaković highlighted the IMF’s modest upward revision of the Eurozone growth outlook and warned that sustained oil price spikes could add 40 basis points of inflation while trimming global output by up to 0.2%. She...
Fabio Panetta: Address - Ordinary Meeting of Shareholders
Banca d'Italia presented its 2025 annual accounts, noting a return to profitability with a net profit of €1.7 bn (about $1.9 bn) after years of losses. Governance changes include the appointment of Paolo Angelini as Senior Deputy Governor and new Deputy Governors...
Yannis Stournaras: The Greek Economy Ten Years After the Crisis - Lessons for National Economies, the Eurozone and Future Challenges
Greek central bank governor Yannis Stournaras reflected on Greece’s decade‑long journey from a sovereign‑debt crisis to fiscal surplus, highlighting how aggressive consolidation, banking restructuring and structural reforms restored credibility. He linked those lessons to today’s heightened geopolitical risk, noting that...
François Villeroy De Galhau: Navigating an Uncertain World - Steering Monetary Policy in the Right Direction to Hold Our Course
At a Sciences Po address on April 2, 2026, Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau highlighted that the eurozone entered the year with a rare "2 % inflation, 2 % interest rate" equilibrium. He warned that the ongoing Middle East conflict could reignite...
Denis Beau: Stablecoins - What Strategic Choices for Europe?
Denis Beau, senior official at Banque de France, outlined the EU’s strategic response to the rise of USD‑denominated stablecoins. He warned that unchecked “stablecoinisation” and “dollarisation” could threaten Europe’s monetary sovereignty and advocated preserving the two‑tier system of central‑bank money...
Philip R Lane: AI and the Euro Area Economy
In a recent BIS speech, Philip R. Lane described artificial intelligence as a new general‑purpose technology poised to reshape production, business models, and the euro‑area economy. He traced AI’s rapid evolution from narrow machine‑learning tools to large language models and...
Michael S Barr: Brief Remarks on Stablecoins
In his remarks, Michael S. Barr highlighted the bipartisan GENIUS Act, which mandates that stablecoin issuers hold only high‑quality, highly liquid reserve assets. He noted that clearer rules could speed stablecoin adoption for crypto trading, cross‑border remittances, and corporate treasury...
Piero Cipollone: Building the Rails for Europe's Tokenised Financial Markets
Europe’s tokenised capital markets have moved from pilot projects to real‑world issuance, with issuers placing roughly €4 bn (about $4.3 bn) in DLT‑based bonds since 2021 and €1.6 bn ($1.7 bn) in cross‑border trials this year. The Eurosystem is addressing two core bottlenecks—platform fragmentation...
Piero Cipollone: The Digital Euro - Preparing for a Potential Launch
Eurozone leaders reaffirmed the strategic importance of a digital euro, linking it to monetary sovereignty, reduced retail‑payment fragmentation, and Single Market resilience. The Eurosystem is advancing technical preparations but will only issue the token‑based currency after a dedicated legal framework...
Michelle W Bowman: Supporting Small Businesses
Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman highlighted the outsized role of small businesses, which employed 59 million Americans and generated $16 trillion in revenue in 2023, accounting for roughly half of private‑sector jobs and 44% of GDP. She noted that community and regional...
Gabriel Makhlouf: Inflation, Growth, and Monetary Policy in a Fractured World
Gabriel Makhlouf, the ECB’s chief economist, warned that the ongoing Middle‑East conflict is creating a deep energy supply shock that could push oil to $145 per barrel and keep euro‑area inflation above the 2 % target through 2027. He outlined three...