Bundesbank Executive Board member Joachim Wuermeling sees digital financial and money functions pursued by initiatives ranging from clouds to Libra as a major challenge facing European banking supervisors. At an event in Frankfurt, Wuermeling stated that “if risk-relevant links in the financial value chain evade supervision, for credit institutions, it’s a matter of a level playing field, but for us as supervisors it’s a question of financial stability.”

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

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €23.9 billion in December 2021, up €5.4 billion on the previous month’s level. The surplus in the goods account declined, but the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, increased considerably more strongly.

At the end of the second quarter of 2018, the financial assets of households in Germany stood at €5,997 billion. Compared with the first quarter of 2018, this represents an increase of €80 billion or 1.4%. Investors continued to favour liquid investments as well as forms of investment that are perceived to be low risk – with inflows of €43 billion, currency and deposits saw the largest gains, and claims on insurance corporations also recorded significant inflows amounting to €18 billion.

The current June Bundesbank Monthly Report contains an article on the debate about raising the inflation target. Those in favour of this argue that a higher target rate of price increase would provide central banks with more room for manoeuvre for monetary policy countermeasures in times of crisis. The Bundesbank’s economists contend that the negative implications of a higher inflation target are largely being ignored in this debate.

In the second event in the “Designing climate policies” series, experts from the academic and research community and the field of central banking discussed the international coordination of climate measures and the role of central banks in the fight against climate change.