【英语财经】欧洲央行将停止发行500欧元面值纸币 European Central Bank scraps

The European Central Bank has decided to stop producing ￠500 notes, in a move it depicts as a crackdown on crime but which critics in German-speaking countries say is part of an onslaught on cash and savings.

Top eurozone officials argue that the ￠500 bill, the euro’s highest denomination note, is the banknote of choice for the darkest parts of the black economy, because it allows drug dealers and terrorists to carry large amounts of cash.

Although the bill accounts for just 2.3 per cent of banknotes in the single currency area, it represents almost 30 per cent of their value.

As well as ending production, the ECB said on Wednesday it had decided to stop issuing the ￠500 around the end of 2018, “taking into account concerns that this banknote could facilitate illicit activities”. It added that “in view of the international role of the euro and the widespread trust in its banknotes, the ￠500 will remain legal tender and?.?.?.?will always retain its value”.

By making it more difficult to keep very large sums in cash, the abolition of the note could push otherwise reluctant people to put their savings in banks, raising fears that negative interest rates could eat into the principal.

To date such rates, which are imposed on commercial banks’ accounts at the ECB itself, have not directly applied to ordinary savers in the eurozone.

While ECB president Mario Draghi, pushed for the decision to scrap the ￠500 bill, the move has come under fire from other members of the governing council.

The bank is adamant that all of the other denominations of its banknotes, which range from ￠5 to ￠200, will continue to be produced.

欧洲央行(ECB)决定停止发行500欧元面值的纸币，并称此举是为了打击犯罪。但德语国家的批评者表示，这是对现金和储蓄的打压。

欧元区高官辩称，作为面值最高的欧元纸币，500欧元纸币是黑色经济的最黑暗部分喜欢使用的纸币，因为它便于毒贩和恐怖分子携带巨额现金。

尽管500欧元纸币仅占欧元区单一货币区纸币数量的2.3%，但其金额占比接近30%。

周三，欧洲央行表示，“考虑到500欧元面值纸币可能会为非法行动提供便利引起的担忧，”该行已决定大约在2018年停发这种纸币。欧洲央行补充称，“鉴于欧元的国际角色以及欧元区纸币获得的广泛信任，500欧元纸币将保持法定货币地位……并将一直保有其面值。”

欧洲央行提高了持有大量现金的难度，500欧元纸币的取消可能会推动那些原本不情愿的人们把资金存进银行，引起他们对于本金可能受到负利率侵蚀的担忧。

负利率是针对商业银行在欧洲央行的账户，并不直接适用于欧元区内的普通储户。

欧洲央行坚称，从5欧元至200欧元面值的纸币，将继续发行下去。

译者/何黎