The German financial system has weathered the period of exceptionally strongly rising interest rates well overall and remained stable over the past twelve months, too. Interest rates have gone back down in the meantime.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €22.6 billion in September 2024, up €5.5 billion on the previous month’s level. This was caused by the larger surplus in the goods account and especially by the shift to a surplus in invisible current transactions, which comprise services as well as primary and secondary income.

A joint initiative by companies and institutions based in and around Frankfurt’s Bahnhofsviertel – the district surrounding its central railway station – intends to help improve the difficult situation in the area. Known as the BHV corporate initiative (BHV being an acronym for Bahnhofsviertel), it aims to make a positive contribution to the district and support selected social projects through constructive dialogue with the city.

In the second quarter of 2024, German households’ financial assets grew by €136 billion, closing the quarter at €8,815 billion. This represents a new all-time high.

For the first time in nearly three years, the German banks responding to the Bank Lending Survey (BLS) did not tighten their credit standards for loans to enterprises further in the third quarter of 2024, but eased them marginally instead. On the other hand, they once again tightened their credit standards for loans to households for house purchase and for consumer credit and other lending to households For the fourth quarter, banks are planning to tighten their credit standards for loans to enterprises again, partly owing to pessimistic market and economic expectations.

Germany’s current account recorded a surplus of €14.4 billion in August 2024, down €3.3 billion on the previous month’s level. This was chiefly attributable to a smaller goods account surplus.

Implementation in the EU of the Basel III reform package will lead to a 3.3% increase in minimum required capital (MRC) by 2030 for a sample of 36 German financial institutions. The Bundesbank calculated this result in a study based on data from large institutions in particular.

The banking stress test just conducted jointly by BaFin and the Bundesbank has shown that the profitability of small and medium-sized banks and savings banks in Germany improved significantly in 2023. Institutions have emerged from the interest rate reversal with stronger profitability and a higher capital base, and are also prepared for a severe crisis scenario. At a joint press conference in Frankfurt, Raimund Röseler, Chief Executive Director of Banking Supervision at BaFin, and Michael Theurer, the Bundesbank Executive Board member responsible for banking supervision, presented the results of the “LSI stress test”.

At the end of 2023, Germany’s net external assets totalled €2,964 billion, thus amounting to just over 70% of Germany’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP). Overall, both assets and liabilities vis-à-vis non-residents rose further in 2023.