“In a globally interconnected world, autonomy is an illusion,” Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel told the German “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” newspaper. But even so, Europe still needed to invest in certain areas in order to become more independent. Interviewed jointly with Martin Kocher, Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, they also spoke about the debt ratios of euro area countries, proposals for fiscal consolidation, and central bank independence.

The branches of the Bundesbank supply the economy with euro banknotes and coins, and offers private customers the opportunity to exchange D-Mark banknotes and coins free-of-charge and with no fixed deadline.

For non-business clients, the Bundesbank offers cash-related services for the settlement of small-scale transactions. However, given that the minimum requirements applicable for transactions effected by business clients do not apply to business clients, the range of cash-related services available to these customers is restricted.

In its function as Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank answers enquiries concerning historical German currencies and calculates long-term purchasing power equivalents.

Unternehmen meldeten per saldo eine Verschärfung bei den Zinsen für Bankkredite und den sonstigen Kreditkonditionen, die sowohl preisliche als auch nichtpreisliche Faktoren betrafen. Der Finanzierungsbedarf ist geringfügig gestiegen, während sich die Verfügbarkeit von Finanzmitteln nach Wahrnehmung der Unternehmen leicht verschlechterte.