In the final quarter of 2021, economic output in Germany is likely to have declined slightly, the Bundesbank writes in its current Monthly Report. According to the Bank’s experts, this is primarily due to the resurgence of the pandemic. While gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 2.7% on the year in 2021 as a whole, this was not nearly enough to offset the sharp decline of the previous year, the Bank’s experts say. 

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).

In the first half of 2023, the Bundesbank withdrew approximately 26,700 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of just under €2.9 million from circulation in Germany. This was 10% more counterfeit banknotes than in the second half of 2022. The number of counterfeit €200 and €500 banknotes rose in particular. “The incidence of counterfeit banknotes is still low, however. Statistically speaking, there were six counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants,” stated Burkhard Balz, the Bundesbank Executive Board member responsible for cash management.

In its Annual Economic Report, the Bank for International Settlements calls for structural reforms, fiscal policy and macroprudential measures to play a greater role in ensuring sustainable growth. The report states that “monetary policy cannot be the engine of economic growth”.