Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has drawn attention to the dangers of an even longer period of negative interest rates. "Holding interest rates lower for even longer would aggravate the risks and side effects of a very expensionary monetary policy", he said at this year‘s European Banking Congress in Frankfurt.

The Bundesbank’s greenhouse gas emissions came in at around 13,676 tonnes of CO2 equivalents in 2021, which corresponds to a reduction of just over 52.3% compared with the 2013/14 base value (28,650 t). As in 2020, the restrictions on public life caused by the coronavirus pandemic resulted in reduced emissions in 2021 as well. This was because business travel were still very low and reductions were made in heat consumption.

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, der Vizepräsident und ich freuen uns sehr, Sie zu unserer Pressekonferenz begrüßen zu dürfen. Bevor wir Sie über die Ergebnisse der heutigen Sitzung informieren, möchten wir den Menschen in Japan nach den tragischen Ereignissen und dem beklagenswerten Verlust von Menschenleben unser aufrichtiges Mitgefühl aussprechen.