The financial and sovereign debt crisis has shown that the European monetary union is not crisis-proof. In the current edition of its Monthly Report, the Bundesbank presents a number of different approaches describing how sovereign debt crises can be dealt with more effectively in future and also avoided from the outset.

According to Bundesbank Executive Board member Andreas Dombret, the UK vote to leave the EU is not likely to cause any major turbulence in the financial sector. "I do not see Brexit triggering a new banking crisis," he said.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has cautioned against using the Brexit vote as a reason to soften the fiscal rules in the euro area. In an interview with German weekly magazine Focus, Mr Weidmann stressed the importance of member states abiding by shared agreements and joint promises.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann expects Brexit to place a strain on Germany's economy. It is in the interests of both parties, he says, for the EU and the United Kingdom to quickly enter into level-headed negotiations on their future relationship.

The International Monetary Fund expects moderate economic growth to continue in Germany. At the same time, IMF economists urge Germany to accelerate reforms.

The Bank for International Settlements writes in its Annual Report that there is an urgent need to shift the global economy to a more robust, balanced and sustainable expansion. Prudential, fiscal and structural policies must come to the fore, the BIS says.

In the wake of the UK referendum on the country's membership of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the other central banks of the Eurosystem will closely monitor developments in financial markets. In a press release approved by the Governing Council, the ECB has stated that it is in close contact with other central banks and stands ready to provide additional liquidity, if needed, in euro and foreign currencies.

In its recent Monthly Report the Bundesbank outlines the prospects for the German economy until the year 2018. It also explores how quantitative easing is impacting on the aggregate euro-area economy and comments on the structure and dynamics of vertical integration in manufacturing as reflected in the financial statements of German enterprises.

Speaking at a symposium in Frankfurt, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann told the audience that it was essential to repeatedly emphasise the importance of price stability in times of low inflation. Monetary policymakers would, he said, require the full backing of the public if rising inflation required them to once again tighten the monetary reins.

The €500 note is to be abolished, and ceilings on cash payments are being discussed - and yet coins and notes remain Germany's favourite medium of payment. These were some of the topics discussed by constitutional scholars and representatives of banks, the retail trade, consumer protection and the Bundesbank, among other parties, at the Bundesbank's third cash symposium.