Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has described the inflation expectations of German consumers as “well anchored”. This was demonstrated by the initial findings of a pilot study conducted by the Bundesbank, which Mr Weidmann presented at a conference. François Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Banque de France, welcomed the new Bundesbank study, as he believed that reliable data on inflation expectations in the euro area had thus far been scarce.

The profitability of German credit institutions deteriorated in 2018, as the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report reveals in an analysis of the annual accounts of German banks. Profit for the financial year fell significantly compared to the previous year, down by 31% to €18.9 billion.

The German economy got the third quarter off to a sluggish start. “This was due primarily to export-oriented industry, where the downturn continued,” according to the current issue of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann says that the ECB Governing Council has gone too far with its comprehensive package of monetary policy easing. “All I can say is that I will do what I can to ensure that interest rate increases are not put off for any longer than necessary,” he pledged in an interview with Germany’s “BILD-Zeitung” newspaper.

At the meeting on 12 september the Governing Council of the ECB decided to decrease the interest rate on the deposit facility by 10 basis points to -0.50 percent. Net purchases will be restarted under the Governing Council’s asset purchase programme at a monthly pace of €20 billion as from 1 November. 

In January, 200 youths discussed the future of Europe at Euro20+. On 15 and 16 November, the Bundesbank will once again invite 200 motivated young people to come together to address topics such as the future of Europe, digitalisation, economic challenges and running a sustainable economy.

The Bundesbank has tendered an architectural design competition for the implementation of the Bundesbank’s new campus in Frankfurt am Main. The City of Frankfurt am Main and the central bank have agreed that the urban planning concept developed by the firm “Ferdinand Heide Architekten” is permissible under current planning and construction law.

Bundesbank Executive Board member Sabine Mauderer counsels caution when interpreting market signals. “They cannot be taken at face value, but should be treated as the raw material for monetary policy decisions,” she said at an event in Frankfurt.

Economic output in Germany dipped slightly in the second quarter of 2019. The Bundesbank’s current Monthly Report states that this was primarily due to ongoing weakness in export-oriented industry.

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.