Im März 2025 wies die Leistungsbilanz einen Überschuss von 51 Mrd. € auf (nach 41 Mrd. € im Vormonat).

It’s no secret that Germany loves cash. However, the pandemic and the new focus on hygiene showed that even in the Federal Republic, cashless payments can also be interesting for payments of less than €10. In Germany, just over 50 % of all payments are currently still settled using cash. In a few years’ time, it should also be possible to pay with the digital euro. Burkhard Balz, Executive Board member at the Deutsche Bundesbank, is jointly responsible for the digital currency project. On the fringes of the Ludwig-Erhard summit, he revealed in an interview with Frankfurter Rundschau what can be expected and why cash lovers actually have reason to be cheerful.

Am 22. April 2025 beschloss der EZB-Rat nach der jährlichen Überprüfung dieser Verzeichnisse, das Verzeichnis der von der EZB zugelassenen nicht geregelten Märkte und das Verzeichnis der von der EZB anerkannten Institutionen mit öffentlichem Förderauftrag, die für eine Teilnahme am Sicherheitenrahmen des Eurosystems zugelassen sind, unverändert zu belassen.

This year’s Bundesbank symposium “Banking supervision in dialogue” focused on geopolitical risks, artificial intelligence and streamlining bureaucracy. Bundesbank Executive Board member Michael Theurer believes it is important to have a nuanced debate on regulation in order to increase efficiency and reduce “red tape” without lowering standards. The industry meeting in Frankfurt was attended by around 450 supervisors and banking industry representatives.

Eleni worked in the Financial Stability Department during her internship. Read here how she views her time with us.