Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has called on the euro-area countries to embrace fiscal prudence, arguing in a speech in Hamburg that the tighter the fiscal space, the more central banks will come under political pressure to stabilise economic activity in the short run – even if that does mean compromising on price stability.

The low interest rates are imposing a heavy burden on the 1,555 small and medium-sized credit institutions operating in Germany. This is the finding of a recent survey conducted by the Bundesbank and the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Even so, many banks and savings banks are taking countermeasures, for example by raising fees.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann has spoken out in favour of an orderly exit from the European Central Bank's asset purchase programme. Speaking in an interview with the Börsen-Zeitung, he said the programme should be gradually tapered to avoid causing needless turmoil in the financial markets.

The Bundesbank has completed the transfer of its gold reserves from New York and Paris to Frankfurt am Main three years ahead of schedule. This means that the objective of its gold storage plan, which was set out in 2013, has been achieved well in advance. More than half of Germany’s gold reserves are now located in Germany.

Bundesbank Executive Board member Andreas Dombret has called for European banking supervisors to be given strong rights to information and powers of intervention after Brexit. Only then could the clearing of euro securities still be based in London, he said in an interview with Der Spiegel.

The German economy continued to expand at a rapid pace in the second quarter. In the Bundesbank’s assessment, the strong economic growth is likely to continue in the current quarter. The Monthly Report also notes that economic output for the year as a whole could rise even somewhat more strongly than was forecast in June.

In the current low-interest-rate environment the low deposit rates for German savers are a frequent topic of debate. However, households also have other financial assets at their disposal besides deposits. Taking these into account along with the loss of purchasing power due to inflation, households achieved a real total return of 1.9% in the first quarter of 2017 according to the August Monthly Report.

The market for bonds issued by non-financial corporations has grown strongly in recent years. One of the articles in this month’s issue of the Monthly Report looks into the causes of this development.

In the first half of 2017, the Bundesbank registered around 39,700 counterfeit euro banknotes with a nominal value of €2.2 million – 8.7% more than in the second half of 2016. The most frequently counterfeited denomination was the €50 banknote.

Following their recent summit in Hamburg, the G20 leaders have adopted the official G20 communiqué and other declarations and documents. The "G20 Hamburg Action Plan" summarises the outcomes and measures in the area of finance under the German G20 presidency.