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.

Germany’s net external assets have been rising more or less continuously for years and came to €1.8 trillion at the end of 2017. The increase largely reflects Germany’s current account surpluses during this period, according to the Bundesbank’s latest Monthly Report.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann recently met some 140 school students from across Germany. The students, aged between 17 and 25, asked him questions about the Bundesbank’s tasks; some of the answers they received came as a surprise.

The European Central Bank’s capital key will be changing with effect from 1 January 2019 following a scheduled recalculation. The Bundesbank, along with 15 other national central banks, will be contributing a larger share to the ECB’s capital from then on.

Despite the setback in the third quarter of 2018, the German economy should continue to see solid growth for the time being, in the Bundesbank’s estimation. The Bank’s recently published autumn forecast primarily attributes the slight decline in economic output in the previous quarter to temporary difficulties in the automotive industry and believes it will be overcome rapidly.

At its meeting on 13 December, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank agreed to discontinue the net asset purchases under the asset purchase programme (APP) in December 2018.