House prices in Germany fell significantly in 2023, according to the Bundesbank’s current Monthly Report. Residential properties were no longer affordable for many people owing to high inflation and increased interest rates. Demand for housing declined, increasingly shifting to the rental market, and the already high inflation in rents saw a significant further acceleration, the economists write. Overvaluations in the real estate market came down in 2023, but were not fully eliminated. The authors therefore believe that there is still a certain risk of price corrections.

Verglichen mit Dezember 2023 haben sich folgende Entwicklungen ergeben.

Last year, the Bundesbank’s annual accounts were shaped by the increase in the key interest rates. For the 2023 financial year, the Bundesbank reports a balanced financial result because it was able to use its financial buffers to cushion burdens in the double-digit billions. To this end, the Bundesbank released its risk provisions in full and reduced its reserves. We expect the burdens to be considerable again for the current year. They are likely to exceed the remaining reserves, said Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel at the press conference presenting the Bundesbank’s annual accounts

Last year, the Bundesbank’s annual accounts were shaped by the increase in the key interest rates. For the 2023 financial year, the Bundesbank reports a balanced financial result because it was able to use its financial buffers to cushion burdens in the double-digit billions. 

A recent Bundesbank study looks at how cash will be used in the future. It outlines three different scenarios for cash payments in 2037. “The idea of the future scenarios is to help set the right course so that cash remains generally available and accepted as an attractive means of payment and store of value going forward,” explained Burkhard Balz as he introduced the study.

Laut dem geprüften Jahresabschluss der Europäischen Zentralbank (EZB) für 2023 betrug der Jahresfehlbetrag der EZB 1 266 Mio. € (2022: null). Er wird in der Bilanz der EZB als Verlustvortrag ausgewiesen und mit künftigen Überschüssen verrechnet.

Die Leistungsbilanz wies im Dezember 2023 einen Überschuss von 32 Mrd. € auf (nach 22 Mrd. € im Vormonat).

Finalisierter Leitfaden zu internen Modellen umfasst Überarbeitungen zu allgemeinen Modellthemen sowie zum Kredit-, Markt- und Gegenparteiausfallrisiko. Weitere Klarheit über die Auslegung der EZB von Regelungen zu internen Modellen. Berücksichtigung klimabezogener Risiken, Konkretisierung von Anforderungen an einheitliche Definitionen zu Kreditausfall, Gegenparteiausfallrisiko, Ausfallrisiko im Handelsbuch sowie Erläuterung der Möglichkeiten für die Rückkehr zum Standardansatz.

German economic output contracted in the final quarter of 2023, according to the February Monthly Report. Weak demand from abroad was still putting a strain on industry, while higher financing costs continued to dampen investment. Bundesbank economists believe that uncertainty about transformation and climate policy is also likely to have weighed on economic activity. Some headwinds will probably persist into the first quarter of 2024 as well. Economic output could therefore decline again somewhat. 

The National Cash Forum has been established on the initiative of the Bundesbank, the being, as Bundesbank Executive Board member Burkhard Balz put it, to preserve cash as an efficient and widely used means of payment in a changing payment landscape. The forum will facilitate close dialogue between the associations of the banking industry, retail trade, consumer protection, the CIT industry, vending machine operators and the Bundesbank. The industry is set to meet here at least once a year. 

Vorstandsmitglied Burkhard Balz hat die neue Repräsentanz der Bundesbank in Brüssel eröffnet und das deutsche Team im House of the Euro vorgestellt. Zahlreiche Gäste, wie auch die SSM-Vorsitzende Claudia Buch und der deutsche Botschafter in Belgien, Martin Kotthaus, nutzten die Gelegenheit zum Austausch.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €31.4 billion in December 2023, up €0.9 billion on the previous month’s level. While the surplus in the goods account decreased, the surplus in in-visible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, ex-perienced a stronger increase. 

The Deutsche Bundesbank and the Banque de France, six national central banks of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and the European Central Bank (ECB) have today launched a programme funded by the European Union (EU) with the aim of contributing to the macroeconomic and financial stability of African countries.

Am deutschen Rentenmarkt war die Emissionstätigkeit im Dezember 2023 – wie häufig zum Ende eines Jahres – schwächer als im Vormonat. Insgesamt wurden inländische Schuldverschreibungen für 80,9 Mrd € emittiert, verglichen mit 124,3 Mrd € im November.