Bundesbank Executive Board member Sabine Mauderer has called on enterprises to diversify their funding. In an op-ed piece in the German Handelsblatt newspaper, she writes that, although bank loans remain important, a variety of funding sources are needed to withstand crises and to remain innovative.

Bundesbank Vice-President Claudia Buch believes that the capital markets union helps to make the financial system more stable. Speaking at the 2nd annual conference of the Community of Practice in Financial Research in Brussels, she also highlighted the importance of better access to data and information, improved communication of the benefits of integrated financial markets, and financial literacy.

At the end of 2019, Germany’s net external assets stood at €2,472 billion, thus amounting to almost 72% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). The German net external asset position rose by €345 billion year-on-year.