Burkhard Balz is the member of the Bundesbank’s Executive Board tasked with the future implementation of the digital euro. However, the success of the project is not automatically assured. In an interview, Mr Balz explains where there is resistance, what it will entail for us, what the future of cash will look like and what we will see on new banknotes.

The German economy is not only struggling with persistent economic headwinds, but also with structural problems, said Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel, presenting the Bundesbank’s new Forecast for Germany. The Bundesbank projects a slight decline of 0.2 % in real gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 and only a slight rise in 2025. The labour market, too, is now responding noticeably to the protracted weakness of the economy. The inflation rate remains elevated in 2025, but is likely to return to 2 % in the years that follow.

Since January 2022
President of the Deutsche Bundesbank
Member of the Governing Council of the ECB

Aggregierte harte Kernkapitalquote im dritten Quartal 2024 bei 15,72 % (nach 15,81 % im Vorquartal und 15,61 % ein Jahr zuvor).

In an interview with the news magazine Focus, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel talks about how inflation will develop over the next few years and what the change in US presidency could mean for Europe. He also explains the advantages of the digital euro for both retailers and customers.

Die EZB verhängt eine Geldbuße in Höhe von 10,4 Mio. € gegen BNP Paribas Fortis SA/NV wegen eines vorsätzlichen Verstoßes gegen Meldevorschriften für das Kreditrisiko. Die Bank verwendete trotz festgestellter schwerwiegender Mängel interne Modelle zur Berechnung der Eigenmittelanforderungen.

The world is becoming increasingly digital – this presents a whole host of challenges for payments in Europe, but also opens up opportunities as a result of innovations. The Bundesbank’s Payments Symposium 2024 saw around 250 experts from the business community, academia and state institutions come together to discuss this topic, including Bundesbank Executive Board member Burkhard Balz and Piero Cipollone, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank.