Given the upbeat prospects for the economy as a whole, there is little risk to the stability of the German financial system at present. Yet with interest rates sitting at low levels for years now and the economy in such robust shape, there is a danger that market participants might underestimate the risks to financial stability, the Bundesbank cautions.

The Monthly Report November 2017 comments on the economic situation in Germany in autumn 2017.

The Bundesbank has achieved a surplus of 1 billion euros in 2016. This is 2.2 billion euros less than in the previous year. Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann justified this at the annual press conference with increased risk provisions.

The October 2017 Monthly Report analyses emerging market economies’ global liquidity, foreign reserves and exchange rates and contains an article on developments in the natural interest rate. In addition, the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process for smaller institutions and proportionality considerations are described, and the initial results of the new money market statistics as well as the new insurance statistics are presented.

Money, whether in the form of banknotes, coins, or digital credits in our bank accounts, is at the heart of nearly everything we do in modern life. But we rarely give it any sustained thought. What, after all, is money, really? How does it work? Where does it come from? Who controls the banks? How does monetary policy work, and what roles do central banks play in its use?