Der Zentralbereich Zahlungsverkehr und Abwicklungssysteme hat eine Umfrage unter 14 ausgewählten Geschäftspartnern zum Thema „Veränderte Sicherheitennutzung und Collateral Scarcity“ durchgeführt. Aktuell zeigen sich keine Anzeichen einer generellen Knappheit, jedoch stellen viele der befragten Geschäftspartner einen signifikanten Bedarfsanstieg an hochqualitativen Sicherheiten fest.

The German banks responding to the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) once again tightened their credit standards for loans to enterprises somewhat in the first quarter of 2021. Standards remained unchanged for loans to households for house purchase, and they were eased marginally for consumer credit and other lending to households.

At its monetary policy meeting on 23 January, the Governing Council of the ECB decided to review its monetary policy strategy. Alongside the national central banks, this newly launched process will also engage with the general public and civil society.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €28.2 billion in December 2020, up €6.9 billion from the previous month’s level. Although the goods account surplus decreased, the surplus in invisible current transactions – comprising the services account as well as primary and secondary income – increased to a much greater degree.