The April 2022 Monthly Report explains the development of the debt situation in the euro area’s private non-financial sector since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and describes possibilities for the stability-oriented further development of the central government’s debt brake. Furthermore, the Monthly Report analyses the current developments in the demand for euro banknotes at the Bundesbank and contains a contribution on the possible macroeconomic consequences of the war in Ukraine: simulations of an intensified risk scenario. 

The information contained in the study is of interest to all market participants affected by the payment behaviour of private individuals, most notably retailers, credit institutions, card issuers and, last but not least, the Deutsche Bundesbank itself. Players wishing to foster more innovation in the field of payments need to offer a genuine advantage over established schemes and procedures and, in particular, to heed users’ perceived security needs.

Die Broschüre informiert über die wichtigsten Aufgaben in der HV in Baden-Württemberg.

The Bundesbank is not distributing a profit to the Federal Government for 2020 – for the first time since 1979. The main reason was the greater level of risk provisioning.

The Bundesbank posted a profit of € 2.5 billion for the 2018 financial year, representing a year-on-year increase of € 0.5 billion. This increase was due to higher interest income, noted Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.

Estimates by the Bundesbank suggest that banknotes worth around €268 billion were in circulation in Germany in 2018. Of that amount, roughly 20% was used directly for transactions. The other, far larger share – somewhere in the region of €200 billion – was being hoarded, i.e. stored for an extended period of time by households and firms.

The information contained in the study is of interest to all market participants affected by the payment behaviour of private individuals, most notably retailers, credit institutions, card issuers and, last but not least, the Deutsche Bundesbank itself. Players wishing to foster more innovation in the field of payments need to offer a genuine advantage over established schemes and procedures and, in particular, to heed users’ perceived security needs.