Asset purchases can be a monetary policy measure to raise the inflation rate to the desired level in a low interest rate environment. The following film explains how this works.

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.

Die Leistungsbilanz wies im Oktober 2021 einen Überschuss von 18 Mrd € aus (unverändert gegenüber dem Vormonat).