A substantial share of bank loans of euro area banks is secured with real estate. In a new study, we examine whether, in the low interest rate environment, banks invested more in foreign real estate-backed lending. Our results suggest that regulatory differences between the bank’s home country and possible destination countries matter for banks’ search for yield.

Economic activity in Germany may have more or less stagnated in the first quarter of 2022, the Bundesbank’s economists write in the current issue of the Monthly Report. They expect Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine to have had only a limited impact on Germany’s economy at first. Even so, the repercussions of the war are likely to significantly weaken the recovery, which had actually got off to a strong start. “Disruptions to foreign trade and supply chains, soaring energy prices and heightened uncertainty are weighing on enterprises and households,” the report states.