Against the backdrop of declining infection numbers and expiring legal requirements and measures, coronavirus-related protective measures, such as distance rules or general mask requirements, will end on 31 May 2022.

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has called on the Governing Council of the ECB to send out a clear message in June about where euro area monetary policy is heading. His view today is that the Governing Council will then, in July, have to take a first interest rate step, followed by more in the second half of the year. “Negative interest rates will soon be a thing of the past,” Dr Nagel stated in an interview with the news magazine “DER SPIEGEL”.

The German economy recovered slightly in the first quarter of 2022. However, the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine have been weighing considerably on the economy since the start of the conflict, according to the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report. Supply bottlenecks in industry and construction intensified again, for example, while high energy prices dampened output and reduced household purchasing power. At most, the Bundesbank expects economic output to grow slightly this spring.

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has once again advocated making a timely start on normalising policy rates in the euro area. “When net asset purchases come to an end – possibly in June – I see the time for an initial interest rate hike soon afterwards – possibly in July – as having come,” Mr Nagel said at the press conference for the G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors at the Petersberg, near Bonn. He added that they could soon be followed by further interest rate moves.

Machine learning, artificial intelligence and the digital euro – at the BaFinTech industry meeting, Bundesbank Executive Board members Joachim Wuermeling and Burkhard Balz spoke about the opportunities and risks of the digitalisation of banking business and central bank digital currency. The BaFinTech format was aimed at the financial industry.

Following an agreement reached between the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Bundesbank, the German Banking Industry Committee and the National Bank of Ukraine, refugees who have fled the war in Ukraine can exchange hryvnia banknotes into euro in Germany from 24 May 2022. 

Біженці, які врятувалися від бойових дій в Україні, з 24 травня 2022 року можуть у Німеччині обміняти гривню у банкнотах на євро. Про це повідомляють Федеральне міністерство фінансів, банк Deutsche Bundesbank і Комітет банківської галузі Німеччини разом з Національним банком України. 

On 13 and 14 May, the Bundesbank invited motivated young people to its fourth Euro20+ event, held in Frankfurt am Main, where they discussed key economic and societal issues. The highlight of the event was the two town hall meetings with Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel and Banco de España Governor Pablo Hernández de Cos.

Our historical archives contain sources which give an exact account of gold swap transactions with the central bank of the United States – the Fed. The sources show how the Bundesbank’s quality control procedures and its stringent requirements regarding the composition of its gold made an accurate settlement of accounts possible.

The so-called Blessing letter, dated 30 March 1967, forms part of the correspondence between the President of the Deutsche Bundesbank at the time, Karl Blessing, and the then Chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, William Martin. Blessing addresses US concerns that the Bundesbank might convert US dollars into gold on a massive scale.