ECB Plans 12-Month Digital Euro Pilot for Second Half of 2027

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said Saturday that the ECB is preparing a 12-month internal pilot of the digital euro for the second half of 2027, with EU legislation a key step toward making it possible.

Adoption by year-end of the Regulation on the establishment of the digital euro is key to enabling the pilot. The remarks included no date for a public rollout. The ECB previously selected 36 payment service providers for the planned 12-month pilot.

The digital euro is intended to add an electronic option for everyday payments alongside cash, with public and private payment services coexisting and competing. Separately, Pontes, the Eurosystem’s distributed-ledger technology solution, began operating Sept. 21. It supports settlement of tokenized assets in central bank money.

Euro-area headline inflation was 3.8% in September, with core inflation at 2.5%. Higher energy costs drove most of the headline increase. The energy shock is expected to keep inflation above the ECB’s target into the first half of 2027; inflation is expected to ease after the first quarter and move near target toward year-end.

Lagarde described the euro-area economy as resilient. ECB staff projections put growth at 0.9% in 2026, 1.4% in 2027 and 1.5% in 2028. The ECB raised its key interest rates by 25 basis points in both June and September.