According to Bundesbank data, housing prices in Germany showed a further sharp rise last year. The Bundesbank’s latest Monthly Report reveals that prices outside the urban areas were also going up at a faster pace than in the years before.

Economic activity in Germany continued to cool at the end of 2018. The Federal Statistical Office reported that Q4 GDP remained at roughly the same level as in the previous quarter, which had seen a contraction of 0.2%. According to the Bundesbank’s current Monthly Report, this is due in large part to persistently weak industrial activity.

Cash is quicker and cheaper at the point of sale than other means of payment, a recent study has found. It performed better than other payment types for transactions of up to €50 in particular. According to the study, three out of four payments are settled in cash.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has underscored the importance of central banks’ independence to their success. “In order to defend their independence, central banks should interpret their mandates narrowly and seek the support of the broad public,” he said in a speech he delivered in Pretoria.

Demand in Europe for payment instruments that can be used anywhere across the continent is on the rise. So it’s high time Europe set about forging a solution of its own, Bundesbank Executive Board member Burkard Balz says. Besides invigorating competition, this would also serve to bolster European payment instruments and their providers, he explained in Frankfurt am Main.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann sees Brexit and the global trade dispute as the two largest risks to Germany’s economy. In a speech delivered in Mannheim, he called on politicians to resolve the conflicts.

For the euro’s 20th birthday, the Bundesbank invited 200 young people to discuss the future of Europe and the single currency under the slogan “Your Europe – make something of it!”

In 2018, the Bundesbank identified approximately 58,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €3.4 million, representing a 20% decrease on the previous year.

In the Bundesbank’s estimation, the German economy recorded only modest growth in the final quarter of 2018. Disappointing industrial developments, in particular, meant that the pace of growth probably did not match that of the first half of the year, the Bank's economists write in the current issue of the Monthly Report.

Former Bundestag speaker Norbert Lammert spoke at the New Year’s reception hosted by the Alumni Association of the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences. Addressing around 100 guests, he recalled the outbreak of the financial crisis and discussed current issues.