Two years have been spent exploring the possible design and distribution of a digital euro. Now, the Governing Council of the ECB is moving to the next phase of the project. This will lay the foundations for a potential digital euro. It will involve, amongst other things, finalising the digital euro rulebook and selecting providers that could develop a digital euro platform and infrastructure. However, a decision on whether to actually issue a digital euro will be made at a later date. 

Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel has said he is confident that inflation has peaked. Speaking at the joint press conference with Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, he explained that, although there was still uncertainty as to when inflation would return to the 2% target, the ten interest rate hikes carried out by the European Central Bank (ECB) to date are yielding results.

Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and KIT Freundeskreis und Fördergesellschaft e. V. (KFG) have awarded 2023’s Heinrich Hertz Guest Professorship to Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel. The Heinrich Hertz Guest Professorship is conferred annually upon figures from the spheres of science, economics, culture or politics and recognises their achievements in research and contributions to society.

Unstructured data hold a wealth of potential for both individual institutions and the financial system as a whole, says Bundesbank Executive Board member Joachim Wuermeling. Leveraging the data in a way that maximises the benefits and minimises the risks is what counts, he remarked at BaFinTech 2023, a joint Bundesbank-BaFin event in Berlin. He also warned that excessive legal constraints risk dampening the huge innovative potential offered by artificial intelligence.

German credit institutions’ performance tended to deteriorate in 2022, Bundesbank experts write in the current issue of the Monthly Report. Profit for the financial year before tax did manage to creep up on the whole and, at €27.4 billion, remained well above the long-term average. However, this was driven mainly by a one-off effect at one institution. According to the Bundesbank, most categories of banks recorded significantly lower annual profit for the reporting year than in 2021.

German economic output is likely to contract somewhat in the third quarter of 2023, the Bundesbank writes in its Monthly Report. It is unlikely that private consumption will offer any discernible positive impetus. Households are still reluctant to spend despite the slight easing in price inflation, strong wage growth and favourable labour market. In addition, weak industry is weighing on economic output. 

The German economy is under considerable pressure to adapt, writes the Bundesbank in its September Monthly Report. Challenges are arising mainly from demographic change and the transition to a low-emission energy supply. Moreover, dependency on China for the procurement of key intermediate inputs entails risk. In the midset of the current debate concerning Germany’s alleged status as the “sick man of Europe”, the Bundesbank still sees the German economy as well positioned. According to our analyses, broad-based deindustrialisation is not on the table either, says Marcus Jüppner, co-author of the report. 

As from 1 January 2017, certain systemically important banks (SIBs) in Germany will need to hold more capital in order to enhance their resilience. The list of institutions concerned has been updated and published by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).

The German economy is still experiencing a period of weakness. According to the Federal Statistical Office’s flash estimate, in the second quarter of 2023, seasonally adjusted real gross domestic product (GDP) stagnated at the level recorded in the previous quarter. The current issue of the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report reports that weak foreign demand and higher financing costs are weighing on the economy. The large backlog of orders in industry and construction and abating supply bottlenecks prevented an even weaker development. The sound labour market acted as a tailwind for the economy. 

The banking sector in the euro area would be able to withstand a severe economic downturn. This is the result of the stress test conducted by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank (ECB). According to BaFin and the Bundesbank, German institutions proved robust even in the particularly severe adverse scenario.