The €500 note is to be abolished, and ceilings on cash payments are being discussed - and yet coins and notes remain Germany's favourite medium of payment. These were some of the topics discussed by constitutional scholars and representatives of banks, the retail trade, consumer protection and the Bundesbank, among other parties, at the Bundesbank's third cash symposium.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €19.6 billion in September 2021, up €4.2 billion on the previous month’s level.

In the current issue of its Monthly Report, the Bundesbank uses scenario calculations to analyse the potential macroeconomic impact of a further escalation of the war against Ukraine. According to the experts, German real GDP this year could be down by as much as 2% compared with 2021. The inflation rate in Germany in 2022 could be 1½ percentage points higher than expected in the European Central Bank’s March projection.