Given the upbeat prospects for the economy as a whole, there is little risk to the stability of the German financial system at present. Yet with interest rates sitting at low levels for years now and the economy in such robust shape, there is a danger that market participants might underestimate the risks to financial stability, the Bundesbank cautions.

The January 2019 edition of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report looks into how a normalisation of interest rates will impact on balance sheets in the euro area’s private non-financial sector and explores price competitiveness in a number of euro area countries in terms of the development, drivers and influence of labour market reforms. The Report also features an analysis of financial cycles in the euro area and sheds light on International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) 9 from a banking supervision angle.