Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €16.6 billion in August 2023, down €2.2 billion on the previous month’s level. While the balance in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, moved into positive territory, there was a sharper decline in the surplus in the goods account.

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel is expecting to see a further decline in the use of banknotes and coins. Even so, cash is deeply embedded in our everyday lives because of its unique characteristics, he said in a video message at the Bundesbank’s cash symposium in Berlin. Bundesbank Executive Board member Burkhard Balz stressed that cash still has a valid role to play even as payments become increasingly electronic.