German institutions eased their standards for lending to enterprises somewhat in the third quarter of 2014; credit standards were tightened slightly for household loans for house purchase and remained unchanged for consumer loans.

The comprehensive assessment (CA) conducted by the European Central Bank (ECB) has determined that the balance sheets of the 25 participating German institutions are sound and that the banks’ capital position would be sufficient to withstand a severe economic shock. This positive result is due not least to the capital measures taken over the past few years, and it does not include measures taken this year.

The German economy in the international division of labour: a look at value-added flows

The financial accounts data for Germany announced in this press release are published for the first time pursuant to the provisions of the European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010). This methodological framework replaced the previous ESA 1995 on 1 September 2014, and since then has constituted the binding basis for all relevant statistics in the European Union.