Demand in Europe for payment instruments that can be used anywhere across the continent is on the rise. So it’s high time Europe set about forging a solution of its own, Bundesbank Executive Board member Burkard Balz says. Besides invigorating competition, this would also serve to bolster European payment instruments and their providers, he explained in Frankfurt am Main.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann sees Brexit and the global trade dispute as the two largest risks to Germany’s economy. In a speech delivered in Mannheim, he called on politicians to resolve the conflicts.

For the euro’s 20th birthday, the Bundesbank invited 200 young people to discuss the future of Europe and the single currency under the slogan “Your Europe – make something of it!”

In 2018, the Bundesbank identified approximately 58,000 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €3.4 million, representing a 20% decrease on the previous year.

In the Bundesbank’s estimation, the German economy recorded only modest growth in the final quarter of 2018. Disappointing industrial developments, in particular, meant that the pace of growth probably did not match that of the first half of the year, the Bank's economists write in the current issue of the Monthly Report.

Former Bundestag speaker Norbert Lammert spoke at the New Year’s reception hosted by the Alumni Association of the Bundesbank’s University of Applied Sciences. Addressing around 100 guests, he recalled the outbreak of the financial crisis and discussed current issues.

The German economy expanded by 1.5% in 2018, which means that the country’s gross domestic product has risen for nine years in a row. This comes after growth rates of just over 2% in both 2016 und 2017.

The financial crisis sparked reforms in the international financial markets. The Financial Stability Board now reviews the impact of those reforms. The Bundesbank and the Leopoldina took this as an opportunity to invite experts from academia and administration to exchange their views on policy evaluation. The results have now been published.

The Bank for International Settlements has found that most central banks have no plans to issue a central bank digital currency at present. According to its latest study, the majority are not convinced that the benefits outweigh the costs.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann used an interview with the German “Welt am Sonntag” newspaper to voice concern about the agreement struck by the Italian government and the European Commission over the budget dispute. “Looking ahead, the Commission and other governments will find it harder still to insist on sound government finances,” he argued.