In the first half of 2021, the Bundesbank recorded approximately 21,400 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €1 million. This represents a decline of 13% compared with the second half of 2020. This is due to the coronavirus restrictions, said Bundesbank Executive Board member Johannes Beermann.

The digital transformation is increasingly putting German banks to the test. As this unfolds, it is important to not lose sight of security, particularly with banks becoming a growing target for professional hackers, the Bundesbank’s economists write in the latest issue of the Monthly Report. They warn that technology alone is not enough to stay ahead of digital risks.

German economic activity likely grew strongly in the second quarter, largely offsetting the severe setback it suffered in the first quarter, the Bundesbank writes in its current Monthly Report. The services sector in particular contributed to the considerable recovery. Inflation is likely to rise as the year progresses.

The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) has decided today to launch the investigation phase of a digital euro project. Following the decision, the President of the Eurogroup Paschal Donohoe joined the meeting, congratulated the Governing Council and expressed his full support for the project.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann believes the new strategy will help monetary policy maintain price stability for the people of the euro area. “A medium-term inflation rate of 2% is a clear and easily understandable objective. We are not striving for either lower or higher rates. That was important to me,” was how Mr Weidmann assessed the outcome of the strategy review.

On 1 July 1990, the Deutsche Mark was introduced in what was then still the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Exactly 31 years later, civil rights advocates Freya Klier and Richard Schröder, economist Reint Gropp and Bundesbank Executive Board member Johannes Beermann came together in a panel discussion to look back on that turning point and developments up to now.

A presentation film produced by the Bundesbank caught the attention of IT professionals – and has now gone on to impress the jury panel for the financial sector category of the German Prize for Online Communication.

The first event in the “Designing climate policies” seminar series saw experts from academia, the business community and civil society discuss the role of the state and private enterprises in the ecological transformation. Proceedings were kicked off by Bundesbank Executive Board member Sabine Mauderer in the first of a series of events hosted jointly by the Bundesbank, the Center for Liberal Modernity and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

In the second event in the “Designing climate policies” series, experts from the academic and research community and the field of central banking discussed the international coordination of climate measures and the role of central banks in the fight against climate change.

The new Bundesbank branch in Dortmund is taking over the cash supply for the entire Rhine-Ruhr region. It is the Bundesbank’s largest and most modern branch. In future, around 200 members of staff employed there will supply 12 million people with banknotes and coins. The new branch will replace the five existing branches in the region.