How did the ECB Governing Council arrive at its new monetary policy operational framework for the Eurosystem? What principles will be followed when implementing monetary policy in the future? Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel addressed these questions at the 55th Konstanz Seminar on monetary theory and monetary policy. 

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €2.5 billion in May 2022, down €6.4 billion on the previous month’s level. Although the surplus in the goods account increased, this was outweighed by the sharp shift into a deficit for invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €16.2 billion in January 2023, down €9.4 billion on the previous month’s level. 

Domestic enterprises, banks, public authorities and individuals are required to report cross-border equity investments on an annual basis wherever their share of capital or voting rights is 10% or higher and the investment enterprise’s total assets are more than €3 million (or the equivalent thereof if its balance sheet is denominated in another currency).

The German current account recorded a surplus of €29.8 billion in February 2024, up €1.8 billion on the previous month’s level. Although the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, declined, the surplus in the goods account grew by an even wider margin.  

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann warned that a full-blown trade war between the US and the EU could cost both sides dearly. "The adverse effects might be considerable larger than in case of the trade spat with China“, he said in a speech in New York.