The Bundesbank posted a profit of €2.5 billion for the 2018 financial year. Following an allocation to the reserves, the Bundesbank transferred the remaining distributable profit of €2.4 billion in full to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

Cash is a quick and cheap means of payment in the German retail trade sector. On average, cash payments take just over 22 seconds and cost around 24 cent per transaction, according to a study on the costs of cash payments in the retail trade sector which the Deutsche Bundesbank carried out in cooperation with EHI Retail Institute.

Die Bundesbank hat im Jahr 2018 rund 58.000 falsche Euro-Banknoten im Nennwert von 3,4 Millionen Euro registriert. Die Zahl der Fälschungen sank gegenüber dem Vorjahr um 20 Prozent. Rein rechnerisch entfielen damit sieben falsche Banknoten auf 10.000 Einwohner.

German banks made hardly any changes to their lending policies in the final quarter of 2018. Credit standards remained virtually constant in all three loan categories. At the same time, banks’ overall credit terms and conditions for loans to enterprises and for loans to households for house purchase were eased slightly.

Das Geldvermögen der privaten Haushalte in Deutschland lag zum Ende des dritten Quartals 2018 bei 6 053 Mrd €, womit es gegenüber dem zweiten Quartal um 76 Mrd € oder 1,3 % anstieg.

The Deutsche Bundesbank calculates the basic rate of interest and publishes its current level in the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger).

Times of strong growth and low interest rates have seen vulnerabilities build up in the German financial system. In addition, the probability of an economic downturn has increased. “Now is the time to build up sufficient capital and strengthen the financial system’s defences,” said Bundesbank Vice-President Claudia Buch at the press conference on the publication of the new Financial Stability Review.

The Bundesbank and Deutsche Börse have successfully completed tests for their jointly specified blockchain prototypes. The outcome of the project is that the prototypes are suitable for productive operation and can serve as a basis for further development.

German banks have once again slightly eased their credit standards for loans to enterprises and loans to households for house purchase. These are, in a nutshell, the results of the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) in Germany, which the Bundesbank conducts four times a year.