Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann will lay down his office for personal reasons at the end of the year. “I have come to the conclusion that, after more than ten years, now is a good time to embark upon a new chapter – for the Bundesbank, but also for me personally,” Mr Weidmann explained. He said he owed thanks to his colleagues on the Governing Council of the ECB under the leadership of Christine Lagarde for the open and constructive atmosphere in the - at times - difficult discussions conducted over the past years.

Households’ financial assets grew by €159 billion to €7,325 billion in the second quarter of 2021. Alongside the transaction-related increase in financial assets (acquisition of financial assets), valuation gains on shares and investment fund shares played a significant role.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €11.8 billion in August 2021, down €6.1 billion on the previous month’s level. While the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, saw a slight increase, the surplus in the goods account declined much more sharply.   

At the end of December 2020, Germany’s net external assets stood at €2,077 billion, thus amounting to almost 62% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Both German claims and liabilities vis-à-vis non-residents continued to rise considerably in 2020.

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €17.6 billion in July 2021, down €5.0 billion on the previous month’s level. Although the surplus in the goods account rose, the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise primary and secondary income as well as services, declined significantly.

In July, the surplus in the goods account increased by €1.1 billion on the month to €17.5 billion, with imports of goods contracting more sharply than exports.

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €22.5 billion in June 2021, up €9.4 billion on the previous month’s level. This was attributable to an increase in the goods account balance and especially in the invisible current transactions balance comprising services as well as primary and secondary income.

Starting in August 2021, the Bundesbank is publishing not only the end-of-month values but also the monthly averages for the German TARGET2 balance on its website.

Financial assets grew by €192 billion to €7,143 billion in the first quarter of 2021, exceeding the €7 trillion mark for the first time ever. Additionally to increases related to the purchase of financial assets, this growth was driven in particular by valuation gains on shares and investment fund shares. 

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €13.1 billion in May 2021, down €7.9 billion on the previous month’s level. In addition to the declining surplus in the goods account, the main reason for this decrease was the balance in invisible current transactions, which comprise primary and secondary income as well as services, switching from a surplus to a deficit. 

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

In April 2021, Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €21.3 billion, down €8.7 billion on the previous month’s level. This was driven by the decrease in the goods account surplus and a narrowed surplus on invisible current transactions, comprising primary and secondary income as well as services. 

The Deutsche Bundesbank sees the German economy poised for the start of a strong upswing. It currently projects economic growth to reach 3.7% this year and 5.2% next year. In 2023, growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) is set to lose momentum, but will still amount to 1.7%.

The German current account recorded a surplus of €30.2 billion in March 2021, up €11.5 billion on the previous month’s level. This was due to a considerable increase in the surplus on invisible current transactions, which comprise not only services but also primary and secondary income, as well as that in the goods account.

Germany’s outward immediate and indirect foreign direct investment (FDI) was up by €48 billion at the end of 2019 to €1,372 billion. The ranking of individual recipient countries remained broadly unchanged: almost 30%, or €391 billion worth, of all German FDI went to the United States, which was once again number one.

The German banks responding to the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) once again tightened their credit standards for loans to enterprises somewhat in the first quarter of 2021. Standards remained unchanged for loans to households for house purchase, and they were eased marginally for consumer credit and other lending to households.

The financial assets of households in Germany came to €6,950 billion at the end of 2020, increasing by €211 billion, or 3.1%, compared with the third quarter. With inflows of €74 billion in the fourth quarter, households again mainly built up cash and deposits, followed by claims on insurance corporations (€21 billion) and investment fund shares (€14 billion).

The German current account recorded a surplus of €18.8 billion in February 2021, up €1.1 billion from the previous month’s level. While the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, saw a decline, the surplus in the goods account rose more strongly.

In the year the coronavirus pandemic began, general government debt in Germany as defined in the Maastricht Treaty was up by €275 billion to €2.332 trillion. By contrast, debt had been repaid in preceding years on the whole.

Deutsche Bundesbank together with Deutsche Börse Group and Germany’s Finance Agency have developed and successfully tested a settlement interface for electronic securities. Securities settlement using distributed ledger technology (DLT) is performed with the aid of a trigger solution in TARGET2.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €16.9 billion in January 2021, down €8.9 billion from the previous month’s level. This was primarily due to the decline in the surplus for invisible current transactions – which comprise not only services but also primary and secondary income – but also to the narrower surplus in the goods account.

The emergency monetary policy measures taken in response to the coronavirus pandemic have impacted noticeably on the Deutsche Bundesbank’s balance sheet. Given the attendant risks, the Bundesbank has therefore stepped up its provisions for general risks.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €28.2 billion in December 2020, up €6.9 billion from the previous month’s level. Although the goods account surplus decreased, the surplus in invisible current transactions – comprising the services account as well as primary and secondary income – increased to a much greater degree.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann welcomes the common stance agreed by the ECB Governing Council for sustainable and responsible investment principles for the euro-denominated non-monetary policy portfolios of Eurosystem central banks, emphasising that the Bundesbank is already working on incorporating these principles into its investment practices and disclosures.

In 2020, the Bundesbank registered approximately 58,800 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.9 million in German payments. The number of counterfeits thus rose by 6.5% on the year, while the nominal value of the banknotes seized fell by 14.3%.

The financial assets of households in Germany came to €6,738 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020. This was €108 billion (or 1.6%) higher than in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2020, households mainly built up cash and deposits totalling €41 billion, followed by claims on insurance corporations (€19 billion) and shares (€11 billion).

Many citizens have adjusted their payment behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic. “According to a representative Bundesbank survey in 2020, the importance of cashless payment methods, especially cards, in everyday expenditures has been growing considerably,” said Burkhard Balz, the member of the Bundesbank Executive Board responsible for cashless payments.

Survey results from December 2020 indicate that individuals are expecting inflation to come to 3.1% on average over the next 12 months, which is the highest rate measured in 2020. Inflation expectations had previously dropped from 2.8% in June to 2.5% in November.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €21.3 billion in November 2020, down €1.6 billion from the previous month’s level. This was primarily attributable to a decrease in the goods account surplus. By contrast, the surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income, expanded only slightly.

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

Demand for programmable payments is rising in the German economy. The working group on “Programmable money”, initiated by the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Deutsche Bundesbank, arrived at this verdict. The group, comprising experts from 19 enterprises in the real economy and financial sector, analysed possible payment solutions in new, innovative business cases.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €22.5 billion in October 2020, down €2.7 billion from the previous month’s level.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €26.3 billion in September 2020, up €9.7 billion from the previous month’s level.

During the second quarter of 2020, German households’ financial assets grew by €253 billion, or 4.0%, to €6,630 billion at the end of June.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €16.5 billion in August 2020, down €4.6 billion from the previous month’s level.

At the end of 2019, Germany’s net external assets stood at €2,472 billion, thus amounting to almost 72% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). The German net external asset position rose by €345 billion year-on-year.

Germany’s current account posted a surplus of €20.0 billion in July 2020, down €0.5 billion from the previous month’s level.

Cashless payment instruments in Germany were already being used more frequently in 2019, i.e. prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was evidenced by the latest figures of the Deutsche Bundesbank’s Statistics on Payments and Securities Trading, Clearing and Settlement.

Die deutsche Leistungsbilanz verzeichnete im Juni 2020 einen Überschuss von 22,4 Mrd €. Das Ergebnis lag damit um 15,4 Mrd € über dem Niveau des Vormonats.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €6.5 billion in May 2020, putting it €2.6 billion below its level in April.

The Deutsche Bundesbank is putting the results of its architectural competition for the planned new buildings at its Central Office premises in Frankfurt am Main out on display. The exhibition at the German Architecture Museum, featuring the 29 architectural designs submitted, was opened to the public today with a press conference that simultaneously served as a virtual opening.