Real gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to have contracted somewhat in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest Monthly Report. Weak foreign demand and higher financing costs weighed on the German economy. Tailwinds came from the still robust labour market and steep wage increases amidst subsiding inflation, the economists report.

Two years have been spent exploring the possible design and distribution of a digital euro. Now, the Governing Council of the ECB is moving to the next phase of the project. This will lay the foundations for a potential digital euro. It will involve, amongst other things, finalising the digital euro rulebook and selecting providers that could develop a digital euro platform and infrastructure. However, a decision on whether to actually issue a digital euro will be made at a later date.