The Bundesbank is expanding its provision of data on the domestic investment fund industry. In addition to the long-standing publications on open-end investment funds, from now on data on the closed-end fund sector in Germany will also be published on a monthly basis.

The Bundesbank posted a profit of €3.2 billion for the 2015 financial year, up from €3.0 billion in 2014. This profit was transferred in full today to the Federal Government of Germany pursuant to section 27 number 2 of the Bundesbank Act (Bundesbankgesetz). Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann explained that the higher profit had been driven by an improved net result of financial operations, write-downs and risk provisioning, while net interest income had declined.

The Bundesbank's relocation of gold from storage locations abroad is running very much according to schedule. In 2015, 110 tonnes from Paris and 100 tonnes from New York were transferred to Frankfurt. "With 1,402.5 tonnes of gold, Frankfurt has been our largest storage location, ahead of New York, since the end of last year," said Carl-Ludwig Thiele, Member of the Executive Board of the Bundesbank.

The Bundesbank's Executive Board has decided to extensively renovate the Bank's Central Office in Frankfurt am Main in a project that will last a number of years.

The economic recovery in the euro area has also seen investment regain momentum. Aggregate fixed capital formation is still languishing well short of its level prior to the crisis, however, though that was admittedly a period marked by above-average investment growth in some countries.

The Bundesbank registered approximately 63,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €3.3 million in 2014, which represents a 63 % increase year on year. Statistically, this equates to eight counterfeit banknotes per 10,000 inhabitants.

Overall, credit standards in Germany were eased slightly in the final quarter of 2015, as is revealed by the latest Bank Lending Survey (BLS) conducted among banks domiciled in Germany.

As at the end of September 2015, households' financial assets amounted to €5,210 billion; this figure was €17 billion (or 0.3%) lower than at the end of the second quarter.

The Deutsche Bundesbank calculates the basic rate of interest pursuant to section 247 (1) of the German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch) and publishes its current level in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger) pursuant to section 247 (2) of the German Civil Code.

In 2014, non-financial corporations markedly increased their profitability in a predominantly smooth macroeconomic environment, with export markets and the domestic economy both stimulating demand. Following a slump in 2013, pre-tax returns on sales returned to their level of the period from 2010 to 2012 (4¼%).

The United States Congress has ratified the quota and governance reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Bundesbank welcomes this move. "The way is now free for implementing the agreed reforms. This is good news," noted Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann in his capacity as Governor of the Fund for Germany. The quota and governance reform was adopted back in 2010, with Germany ratifying the reform package in 2012.

The German economy is currently following a growth path that is primarily underpinned by domestic demand. Commenting on the Bundesbank's latest semi-annual projection, the Bank's President Jens Weidmann said: "The main drivers are the favourable labour market situation and substantial increases in households' real disposable income, though foreign trade is currently being hampered by frail demand from the emerging market economies." This is making itself felt on industrial investment, the Bundesbank's economists write.

Exceptionally low interest rates remain a salient feature of the financial system setting in Germany. They reflect the global low real economic growth and expansionary monetary policy stance.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Deutsche Bundesbank are jointly organising the Third IMF Statistical Forum on Official Statistics to Support Evidence-based Economic Policymaking. The event will take place in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, on 19 and 20 November 2015.

Since the outbreak of the financial and economic crisis, nominal interest rates, particularly on bank deposits, have fallen to historically low levels. This has affected German households in particular, which traditionally hold a significant portion of their financial assets in the form of these deposits. Some are therefore publicly questioning the wisdom of saving in the first place.

There was little overall change to banks’ credit supply policy in Germany in the third quarter of 2015. This is revealed by the responses of the 34 banks domiciled in Germany that were interviewed for the latest Bank Lending Survey. For loans to enterprises credit standards and margins on riskier exposures remained largely unchanged.

As at end-June 2015, the financial assets of households amounted to €5,224 billion, after rising only very moderately in the second quarter, by just over €5 billion, or 0.1%.

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.