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.