Germany's net external position stood at €1,228 billion at the end of 2014, and thus amounted to around 42% of gross domestic product. The German net external asset position rose by €248 billion year-on-year. This increase primarily reflects Germany's current account surplus last year. Unlike in the previous year, the increase occurred against the backdrop of rising gross stocks, as it had done in the years before that.

The aftermath of the financial and sovereign debt crisis saw a slump in bank lending to non-financial corporations in the euro area, a development which spurred the Eurosystem to respond with an array of non-standard monetary policy measures. The supply of credit began to level off in mid-2013, and it has improved perceptibly since the autumn of 2014.

The survey showed that the persistently low interest rates weighed significantly on German credit institutions in all survey scenarios over a five-year period. However, given the existing surplus capital and available hidden reserves, most institutions will be able to withstand the strains caused by the low-interest-rate setting.

The group of emerging market economies have experienced impressive growth over the past 20 years, substantially boosting their share of global economic output and worldwide trade. Recently, however, economic momentum has tailed off considerably in a large number of emerging market economies, and the growth lead they once enjoyed over the industrial countries has narrowed.

In the first quarter of 2015, the financial assets of households rose exceptionally steeply by just under €140 billion (ie 2.8%) on the quarter, climbing to a figure of €5,212 billion.

In the first half of 2015, the Bundesbank registered approximately 50,500 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.2 million. This means that the number of counterfeits rose by 31% compared with the second half of 2014. Statistically, this­ equates to 12 counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.

Overall, German credit institutions eased their lending policies somewhat for loans to enterprises in the second quarter of 2015. This was revealed by the latest round of the Bank Lending Survey.

In its meeting on 30 June 2015, the Financial Stability Committee discussed the current risk situation in financial markets, including the market reaction triggered by the events in Greece. The Committee considers the consequences for the German financial system to be minor. It sees the German financial system as robust; to a large extent, German financial institutions have reduced their exposure to Greece a while ago.