The consultation regarding the nomination of Dr Joachim Nagel as President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, took place on Wednesday. The Executive Board did not raise any objections and is looking forward to working together with Dr Nagel.

The German economy will experience a setback in the final quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 on account of the pandemic, but is set to pick up significant momentum again in spring of next year. “The upswing has been slightly delayed,” said Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann at the presentation of his institution’s current projections. According to these projections, gross domestic product will increase by 2.5% this year – less strongly than anticipated back in June – in light of the dip in growth. Over the next two years, calendar adjusted economic growth will then rebound to 4.2% and 3.2%, respectively.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €15.4 billion in October 2021, down €4.6 billion on the previous month’s level.

The financial system has functioned well during the pandemic. Government stabilisation measures have shielded the real economy and – indirectly – the financial system from the pandemic fallout.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €19.6 billion in September 2021, up €4.2 billion on the previous month’s level.

German banks tightened their credit standards somewhat for loans to enterprises and loans to households for house purchase in the third quarter of 2021. At the same time, credit standards for consumer credit and other lending were eased marginally. These are the results of a quarterly survey of German banks on their lending activities. According to the survey, loan demand increased in all the surveyed loan categories, but fell significantly short of banks’ expectations in the previous quarter for loans to enterprises and consumer credit and other lending.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann will lay down his office for personal reasons at the end of the year. “I have come to the conclusion that, after more than ten years, now is a good time to embark upon a new chapter – for the Bundesbank, but also for me personally,” Mr Weidmann explained. He said he owed thanks to his colleagues on the Governing Council of the ECB under the leadership of Christine Lagarde for the open and constructive atmosphere in the - at times - difficult discussions conducted over the past years.

Households’ financial assets grew by €159 billion to €7,325 billion in the second quarter of 2021. Alongside the transaction-related increase in financial assets (acquisition of financial assets), valuation gains on shares and investment fund shares played a significant role.