France's Le Maire sees progress on ECB digital currency next year

France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday there could be progress next year on the feasibility of a digital currency backed by the European Central Bank, but acknowledged the plan was for the long term and faced challenges.

He also told a news conference in Brussels that he backed proposals from Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Scholz to link progress on a Europe-wide bank deposit guarantee scheme to banks' reduction of their exposure to sovereign debt.