In the second quarter of 2024, German households’ financial assets grew by €136 billion, closing the quarter at €8,815 billion. This represents a new all-time high.

The banking stress test just conducted jointly by BaFin and the Bundesbank has shown that the profitability of small and medium-sized banks and savings banks in Germany improved significantly in 2023. Institutions have emerged from the interest rate reversal with stronger profitability and a higher capital base, and are also prepared for a severe crisis scenario. At a joint press conference in Frankfurt, Raimund Röseler, Chief Executive Director of Banking Supervision at BaFin, and Michael Theurer, the Bundesbank Executive Board member responsible for banking supervision, presented the results of the “LSI stress test”.

Der EZB-Rat hat heute beschlossen, die drei Leitzinssätze der EZB um jeweils 25 Basispunkte zu senken. Insbesondere der Beschluss zur Senkung des Zinssatzes für die Einlagefazilität – der Zinssatz, mit dem wir den geldpolitischen Kurs steuern – spiegelt unsere aktualisierte Beurteilung der Inflationsaussichten, die Dynamik der zugrunde liegenden Inflation und die Stärke der geldpolitischen Transmission wider.

Der EZB-Rat hat heute beschlossen, die drei Leitzinssätze der EZB um jeweils 25 Basispunkte zu senken. 

For the first time in nearly three years, the German banks responding to the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) did not tighten their credit standards for loans to enterprises further in the third quarter of 2024, but eased them marginally instead. On the other hand, they once again tightened their credit standards for loans to households for house purchase and for consumer credit and other lending to households For the fourth quarter, banks are planning to tighten their credit standards for loans to enterprises again, partly owing to pessimistic market and economic expectations.