How much does a cash payment cost? How long does it take? What costs arise at which points? And how do cash payments compare with cashless payments in terms of costs? Answers to these and other questions are provided by this study on the costs of cash payments in the retail sector, contributing to the debate on the efficiency of payments at the point of sale (POS).

The July 2018 edition of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report describes the ownership structure and the main drivers of yield movements in the market for Federal securities, and discusses the rebalancing of the Chinese economy as well as its international implications. It also includes an article on trends in the financing structure of German non-financial corporations as reflected in the corporate financial statement statistics.

Regulatory requirements for banks are often criticised as having an adverse impact on lending and hence, indirectly, on the real economy. A new research paper uses a theoretical partial equilibrium model to study the direct effects a liquidity coverage ratio could have on banks’ loan supply.