Information concerning financial sanctions, i. e. concerning restrictions on the free movement of capital and payments.

The latest event in the Bundesbank Invited Speakers Series saw Stanford University professor Darrell Duffie and Bundesbank Executive Board member Fritzi Köhler-Geib discuss the role that payment systems play in demand for central bank reserves. Their conversation also focused on structural change in the financial system as well as the impact of digital innovations on monetary policy and financial stability.

Among the problematic developments for firms over the first quarter of 2026, high energy prices recorded the strongest growth, with 61% of firms seeing them as a pressing problem over the next six months in March (December 2025: 43%). In absolute terms, “regulation and government regulations” remain the biggest short-term challenge for firms, with an unchanged 69% in March 2026 reporting that bureaucracy would be a pressing problem over the next six months compared with December 2025.

Der Euro spielte 2025 international eine etwas größere Rolle, wodurch seine Position als zweitwichtigste Währung der Welt gefestigt wurde. Gemessen an einer breiten Palette von Indikatoren zur internationalen Währungsverwendung erhöhte sich Anteil des Euro auf rund 20 %. Er setzte damit den allmählichen, aber stetigen Aufwärtstrend fort, der seit dem Überfall Russlands auf die Krim 2014 zu beobachten war.