The Deutsche Bundesbank posted its first-ever representative to South Africa at the country's German Embassy on 1 August 2016 with a view to deepening the bank's cooperation with the G20 emerging market economy.

Despite the massive shock triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and what were, at times, very stringent containment measures, the number of corporate insolvencies dropped substantially in 2020, the Bundesbank writes in its Monthly Report. This was due in part to the temporary suspension of the obligation to file for insolvency, which is subject to certain conditions. German enterprises’ sales fell far less significantly than they had done during the financial and economic crisis of 2009, the Bank’s economists explain.

German banks tightened their credit standards for loans to enterprises marginally in the second quarter 2022. In the case of loans to households for house purchase, the tightening of credit standards was stronger than at any other time since the introduction of the BLS. Credit standards for consumer credit and other lending were also tightened.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €15.4 billion in October 2021, down €4.6 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.