According to the current issue of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report, consumer prices in Germany and worldwide are continuing to rise extraordinarily sharply. While Germany’s economy remains in the grip of the Omicron variant, very robust demand is likely to see GDP “rebound strongly in the second quarter, provided the pandemic subsides and the supply bottlenecks continue to ease,” write the Bank’s experts. 

Die Europäische Zentralbank (EZB) bestätigt, dass bei einem Mitglied ihrer Belegschaft eine Infektion mit dem Coronavirus, COVID-19, diagnostiziert wurde. Das Belegschaftsmitglied wird entsprechend den Empfehlungen der örtlichen Gesundheitsbehörden angemessen medizinisch versorgt.

Bundesbank Executive Board member Johannes Beermann has indicated that the risk of picking up coronavirus via cash is extremely minimal. In a press briefing at the Bundesbank, Mr Beermann noted that “the probability of becoming ill from handling cash is smaller than from many other objects used in everyday life”.

From 10 September, the €5 collectors’ coin “Subpolar zone” and the €10 collectors’ coin “Ashore” are available at the branches of the Bundesbank.

The economic recovery in Germany was brought to a standstill in the final quarter of 2020, the Bundesbank writes in its latest Monthly Report, stating that this was due to resurgent infection rates and the tightening of containment measures. Economic activity was consequently still almost 4% down on the pre-crisis level of the fourth quarter of 2019.

Banking supervisors are reviewing their supervisory practices and measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Both the EBA stress test and the LSI stress test have been postponed, for example. More information can be found on the websites of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the ECB, the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS).

The global economy has rebounded surprisingly strongly and quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) writes in its Annual Economic Report. A timely, forceful and concerted policy drive on the part of monetary, fiscal and prudential authorities was able to prevent the worst. However, the report explains, recovery has been very uneven across countries and economic sectors. Furthermore, the pandemic has exacerbated income and wealth inequality.