The President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, Jens Weidmann, visited the Czech National Bank yesterday. The main topics of his informal meeting with CNB Governor Jiří Rusnok and other members of the Board were the view of the Czech economy from outside and the situation of the German economy. The future of the euro area and the banking union were also discussed.

At the end of 2019, Germany’s net external assets stood at €2,472 billion, thus amounting to almost 72% of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). The German net external asset position rose by €345 billion year-on-year.

Households’ real investment return recovered somewhat at the beginning of 2019, improving to a now only marginally negative rate of -0.1%. Viewed in isolation, historically low interest rates continued to depress income, but price gains in securities markets helped increase performance somewhat overall.

The German economy was buoyant during the first three months of the year. The Bundesbank economists, writing in the latest Monthly Report, expect economic output to remain on a marked upward trajectory in the second quarter. Another topic they discuss is what needs to be done to strengthen the regulatory framework underpinning European monetary union.