In the first quarter of 2023, households’ financial assets grew by €146 billion, standing at €7,393 billion at the quarter’s end. Following the declines in the first three quarters of 2022, the financial assets appear to be following the upward trend of the fourth quarter of 2022.

The current Monthly Report explores the factors influencing payment flows to and from Germany and how the banking system ensures that the required payments take place. The Bundesbank’s experts are in favour of excess liquidity being scaled back by the Eurosystem in the coming years to a point where the private interbank market can regain importance in the European payments space.

Stabilität im Wandel? Christina Frenzel führt eine Arbeitseinheit in der IT in Zeiten der Veränderung und schätzt dennoch die Stabilität, die ihr der Arbeitgeber Bundesbank bietet.

Im Mai 2023 wies die Leistungsbilanz einen Überschuss von 9 Mrd. € auf (nach einem Plus von 4 Mrd. € im Vormonat).

Der Banknotenumlauf in Deutschland hat einen geringen ökologischen Fußabdruck. Das ist das Ergebnis einer Studie im Auftrag der Deutschen Bundesbank. Die Studie untersucht, wie sich die Ausgabe, Verteilung, Nutzung und Entsorgung von Euro-Banknoten auf die Umwelt auswirken.

How might payments in the financial industry be made in future? The latest edition of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report outlines various possible options in a world in which distributed ledger technology (DLT) is increasingly being used to settle transactions between banks. Central bank money must remain the number one choice for large-value payments, according to the Bank’s experts, though that does not necessarily mean that central bank digital currency needs to be provided directly in a DLT network setup. Nor does it entirely rule out the use of other forms of money. 

In dieser Folge Finance Flash geht es um die wichtigste Aufgabe der Deutschen Bundesbank: für stabile Preise zu sorgen. Mittelfristig wird eine Inflationsrate von 2 Prozent angestrebt. Aber was kann die Bundesbank tun, damit die Preise nicht immer schneller steigen? Moderatorin Sarah erklärt, wie Geldpolitik im Eurosystem funktioniert, was Leitzinsen sind und wie Inflation gemessen wird. In „wahr oder falsch?“ stellt Sarah das Wissen der Zuschauer über die Europäische Zentralbank auf die Probe. Und in der Zahl der Woche geht es diesmal um die höchste jemals gemessene Inflationsrate. Kleiner Tipp: Es war sogar in Deutschland. Mehr dazu im Video.

German economic output is likely to have gone up slightly again in the second quarter of 2023, according to the Monthly Report. Private consumption has stabilised after previously having fallen. According to the experts, the fact that the labour market remained in good shape, wages rose sharply and price inflation did not continue to accelerate contributed to this development. Meanwhile, the decline in foreign demand was a drag on industry and the rise in funding costs dampened domestic investment. The Bundesbank is expecting the economy to recover haltingly later in the year.

The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are set to meet in Gandhinagar, India, from 17 to 18 July. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel will attend the two-day meeting, which will focus on issues including the current situation in the global economy, sustainability in the financial system and the regulation of crypto-assets.