"Austrian Leader Advocates Constitutional Protection for Cash Usage"

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is proposing to include the right to use cash in the country's constitution, citing concerns that cash could be restricted as a means of payment. While electronic payments have become dominant in many European countries, Austria and neighboring Germany remain attached to cash. The proposal aims to protect cash as a means of payment and ensure a basic supply of cash in cooperation with the central bank. The move has been criticized by opposition parties as populist and a political maneuver.