Am 7. Juni 2010 fand die erste Sitzung des kürzlich gegründeten SEPA-Rats (SEPA = einheitlicher Euro-Zahlungsverkehrsraum) statt, womit ein wichtiger Schritt hin zu einer besseren Steuerung des SEPA-Projekts auf europäischer Ebene unternommen wurde.

“Cash in times of turmoil” – it was under this banner that the Bundesbank held its fifth International Cash Conference. Executive Board member Johannes Beermann was joined at the virtual, English-language event by a number of experts, including ECB Governing Council member Fabio Panetta.

German economic output could grow again significantly in the second quarter of 2021, according to the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report. Rapid progress in the vaccination campaign opens the prospect of a considerable loosening of containment measures in the coming months. GDP could then exceed its pre-crisis level as early as the fourth quarter.

According to the current issue of the Monthly Report, in the final quarter of 2020 Germany's economic recovery was throttled by the higher infection rates and considerably stricter measures introduced again to contain the pandemic. However, in the experts’ assessment, the tighter restrictions have not led to any major setback; instead, real gross domestic product is likely to have more or less stagnated. The pandemic left a deep mark on German economic output in 2020 as a whole.

In the first half of 2021, the Bundesbank recorded approximately 21,400 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1 million. This represents a decline of 13% compared with the second half of 2020. This is due to the coronavirus restrictions, said Bundesbank Executive Board member Johannes Beermann.

Nach ers­ten Be­rech­nun­gen des Sta­tis­ti­schen Bun­des­am­tes ist die deut­sche Wirt­schaftsleistung im ersten Quartal 2020 um 2,2 Prozent gesunken. „Das war der stärkste Rückgang seit der globalen Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise 2008/2009 und der zweitstärkste Rückgang seit der deutschen Vereinigung“, teil­ten die Fach­leu­te in Ber­lin mit.