At the ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal, Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel spoke with CNBC and Bloomberg about the challenges facing the euro area economy and the outlook for monetary policy.

Artificial intelligence is a disruptive technology that is causing profound change to the economy and society. In Europe, we need to take greater advantage of the opportunities arising from this, said Bundesbank Executive Board member Fritzi Köhler-Geib in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. In the interview, she discusses the opportunities and challenges presented by AI.

In 2025, for the first time, people in Germany used cashless means of payment to pay for their day-to-day purchases more frequently than cash. According to the Bundesbank’s latest study on payment behaviour, 55 % of all recorded purchases were settled without cash in 2025. The trend towards cashless payments is continuing, explained Executive Board member Burkhard Balz at the presentation of the results.

According to the Bundesbank’s latest climate-related disclosures, the Bank further expanded its climate-related and nature-related work in 2025. This work includes analysing the financial system’s vulnerabilities to climate-related risks, for example. In its annual climate-related disclosures, the Bundesbank discloses the climate performance of its own financial investments. For the first time, the report analyses the financed greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of commercial banks whose bonds the Bank holds in its euro portfolio.