Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has criticised the continued provision of emergency liquidity assistance to Greek banks, which, he remarked, plainly raised serious monetary financing concerns. Respecting the euro area's core principles was indispensable for its success, however.

The trade dispute between the United States and China in 2018 and 2019 increased trade policy uncertainty, leading to a marked appreciation of the US dollar (USD). The obvious explanation for this is the special role played by USD investments in the global financial system as a safe haven for investors in times of high uncertainty. The USD appreciation triggered in this way in 2018 and 2019 enabled Chinese exporters to lower their prices in US dollars. As a result, the impact of the additional import tariffs imposed at the time by the United States on Chinese products was significantly reduced.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has spoken out against increasing the liquidity assistance provided by the Eurosystem to Greece. If short-term assistance was thought to be necessary, it was up to politicians to provide it, he said at a Bundesbank conference in Frankfurt am Main. Greece needed to keep capital controls in place until an appropriate support package had been agreed by all parties and the solvency of both the Greek government and the Greek banking system had been ensured, said Mr Weidmann.