The monetary policy turnaround shaped the Bundesbank’s balance sheet last year. The profit and loss account for 2022 reported a distributable profit of zero. This result was achieved by tapping €1 billion worth of risk provisions. As in the previous years, no profit was transferred to the Federal budget. “The Bundesbank sustained exceptional financial burdens in 2022,” Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel explained with regard to the annual accounts.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €24.3 billion in December 2022, up €6.9 billion on the previous month’s level. While the surplus in the goods account actually decreased, the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, experienced a considerably stronger increase.

The German banks tightened their credit standards for loans to enterprises, loans to households for house purchase as well as consumer credit and other lending in the fourth quarter of 2022. Credit terms and conditions were also made more restrictive in all three loan categories.

In 2022, the Bundesbank registered approximately 44,100 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.7 million in German payments. The number of counterfeits was thus up by 5.2% on the year.

In the third quarter of 2022, households’ financial assets shrank for the third time in a row owing to persistent valuation losses. A phase of negative growth in financial assets lasting longer than this was last seen during the global financial crisis.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €16.9 billion in November 2022, up €11.2 billion on the previous month’s level. This was caused by the larger surplus in the goods account and the shift to a surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

The Deutsche Bundesbank calculates the basic rate of interest pursuant to the German Civil Code and publishes its current level in the Federal Gazette.

Despite the energy crisis, the Deutsche Bundesbank expects that the German economy will not experience a severe downturn in the winter. “While economic output is likely to contract initially, we expect that the economy will gradually recover from the second half of 2023 onwards,” said Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel upon the release of its latest projections. However, the energy crisis will boost inflation in Germany. “Inflation is high and will decline only gradually,” Nagel explained.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €5.9 billion in October 2022, almost half of the previous month’s result.

The macro-financial environment has deteriorated substantially over the course of 2022. It has been shaped by subdued growth prospects, high inflation as well as rising interest rates and risk premia.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €14.8 billion in September 2022 and was thus up again significantly on the narrow result of €0.9 billion in the previous month.

The German trading center is experiencing strong growth in foreign exchange trading and OTC interest rate derivatives. These findings were revealed by the survey of foreign exchange and derivatives market activity conducted in April 2022 and covering all major global financial centres. The survey was carried out by central banks in 52 countries in consultation with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

German banks adopted stricter credit standards for loans to enterprises in the third quarter of 2022.  For the second time in a row, credit standards for loans to households for house purchase have been made more restrictive than at any point in time since the introduction of the BLS. Credit standards for consumer credit and other lending were also made considerably more restrictive.

Households’ financial assets fell by €98 billion in the second quarter of 2022 and thus for the second time in succession. At the end of the quarter they stood at €7,496 billion.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of only €0.6 billion in August 2022, down €4.8 billion on the previous month’s level. This was due to a decrease in the goods account surplus. The deficit on invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, changed only slightly.

At the end of December 2021, Germany’s net external assets stood at €2,545 billion, thus amounting to around 71% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Both German claims and liabilities vis-à-vis non-residents continued to rise in 2021.

Germany’s small and medium-sized banks and savings banks are well-capitalised for the most part, according to the results of the LSI stress test and a joint BaFin-Bundesbank survey. Credit institutions’ profitability was low, however, and an economic downturn would add to the pressure on their earnings position, Joachim Wuermeling and Raimund Röseler explained at a joint press conference, though the interest rate reversal may provide some relief for institutions in the medium term, they added. 

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €5.0 billion in July 2022, down €9.3 billion on the previous month’s level. This was primarily caused by the shift into a deficit in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income. There was also a smaller surplus in goods trading.

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €16.2 billion in June 2022, meaning that the result was clearly positive again following the slight deficit of €0.4 billion in the previous month. This was primarily caused by the sharp shift in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income. There was also a higher surplus in goods trading

The Deutsche Bundesbank has published its first climate-related report. This publication outlines how the Bundesbank incorporates climate-related risks into individual areas of activity within its mandate.

In the second year of the pandemic, the number of card transactions reported by payment service providers in Germany rose again significantly compared with the previous year, increasing by 10% to more than 8 billion payments.

In the first half of 2022, around 19,800 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of just under €1 million were withdrawn from circulation in Germany. The number of counterfeits fell by 3.9% compared with the second half of 2021. This equates to five counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.

German banks tightened their credit standards for loans to enterprises marginally in the second quarter 2022. In the case of loans to households for house purchase, the tightening of credit standards was stronger than at any other time since the introduction of the BLS. Credit standards for consumer credit and other lending were also tightened.

At the end of the first quarter of 2022, German households’ financial assets amounted to €7,558 billion. This was €36 billion lower than in the previous quarter. Households‘ financial situation thus fall for the first time in two years.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €2.5 billion in May 2022, down €6.4 billion on the previous month’s level. Although the surplus in the goods account increased, this was outweighed by the sharp shift into a deficit for invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

Cash continues to be the most frequently used means of payment in Germany, although cashless payments are increasing their share. These are the findings of the Bundesbank’s sixth study on payment behaviour in Germany for 2021. Respondents used banknotes and coins to make a total of 58% of their payments for purchases of goods and services, compared with 74% in the Bundesbank’s last major study from 2017. The lower use of cash was mainly due to the increase in online purchases during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Deutsche Bundesbank calculates the basic rate of interest in pursuant to statutory requirements and publishes its current level in the Federal

Significant decline in number of credit institutions – further substantial number of branch closures Following reclassification of the former securities trading banks, decline in foreign branches; number of foreign subsidiaries down slightly.

In April 2022, Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €7.4 billion, down €11.3 billion on the previous month’s level. This was chiefly due to a decrease in the goods account surplus, but was also attributable to a somewhat lower surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

The Bundesbank assumes that the economy will grow by 1.9% this year. “The economic recovery is therefore likely to continue, but at a much more subdued pace than projected last December,” according to the current edition of the experts’ semi-annual projection. The annual average inflation rate for 2022 is set to rise to 7.1%.

The German current account recorded a surplus of €18.8 billion in March 2022, down €2.3 billion on the previous month’s level.

Germany’s outward foreign direct investment (FDI) stocks fell by €10 billion to €1,376 billion in 2020. This decline was mainly due to negative exchange rate effects, which led to a lower valuation of the stocks, a Bundesbank press release on these figures explains. The same period saw stocks of FDI in Germany increase by €39 billion to €845 billion.

Households’ financial assets grew by €161 billion to €7,618 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021. Taking all transactions and valuation effects into account, growth was thus significantly higher than in the (weak) third quarter.

The German current account recorded a surplus of €20.8 billion in February 2022, up €8.4 billion on the previous month’s level. This was mainly attributable to an increase in the goods account surplus. Conversely, the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, contracted slightly. 

German banks tightened their credit standards for loans to enterprises marginally in the first quarter 2022. The banks also applied stricter standards for loans to households for house purchase. Meanwhile, credit standards for consumer credit and other lending remained unchanged.

Ingrid Herden, who will be joining the Bundesbank in June, will be taking over as Director General Communications and the President’s spokesperson on 1 October 2022 from Michael Best, who is leaving the Bundesbank at the end of September after 11 years of service.
 

The Bundesbank’s landscape architecture competition for the new campus at its Central Office in Frankfurt am Main has come to a close. An expert jury selected four prize winners and awarded one honourable mention out of a total of 16 submitted designs.

In the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, general government debt in Germany as defined in the Maastricht Treaty increased by €162 billion to €2.476 trillion. Growth was therefore weaker than in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €11.0 billion in January 2022, down €13.6 billion on the previous month’s level. The surplus in the goods account declined considerably, with the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, contracting even more strongly.

The Deutsche Bundesbank, acting on behalf of all the central banks that belong to the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), has successfully completed the procurement of climate-related data.

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Deutsche Bundesbank are lending their support to a concert promoting peace organised by the Berlin State Opera together with its orchestra and choir under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim. The concert will take place in Berlin at 11:00 on Sunday, 6 March 2022.

The Deutsche Bundesbank has presented a balanced result for the year 2021. As in the previous year, the Bank is not transferring any profit to the Federal budget. Explaining this decision, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said it was necessary to further increase the risk provisions on account of the emergency monetary policy measures taken to counter the impact of the pandemic

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €23.9 billion in December 2021, up €5.4 billion on the previous month’s level. The surplus in the goods account declined, but the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, increased considerably more strongly.

The German banks left their credit standards for loans to enterprises and for consumer credit and other lending to households unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2021. Credit standards for loans to households for house purchase were marginally tightened.

In 2021, the Bundesbank registered approximately 42,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1.9 million in German payments. The number of counterfeits thus fell by 28.6% on the year, and the nominal value of the banknotes seized decreased by 34.5%. 

Das Geldvermögen der privaten Haushalte ist im dritten Quartal 2021 um 73 Milliarden Euro auf 7.399 Milliarden Euro gestiegen. Im Vergleich zu den Vorquartalen war das Wachstum unter Berücksichtigung sämtlicher Transaktionen und Bewertungsänderungen somit merklich schwächer.