Bundesbank

Germany's highest court on Tuesday gave the European Central Bank (ECB) three months to justify bond purchases under its flagship stimulus program or lose the Bundesbank as a participant, raising questions about both the scheme and the euro's future.

€ 13 billion and € 500 million is Germany's budget surplus for 2019, the Berlin Finance Ministry announced, news agencies said.

The unexpectedly large positive balance is due to higher tax revenues, lower interest rates on public debt and delays in infrastructure projects.

There was a 0.1% decline in GDP in the second quarter of this year.

The German economy will enter a recession in the third quarter due to the "sharp" decline in industrial production due to tensions in international markets, Bundesbank warned.

The Bundesbank's share in the capital of the European Central Bank is set to rise at the expense of countries whose economies have shrunk, such as Italy, Spain and Greece, according to the ECB's new shareholder structure published on Monday.

This so-called capital key is re-calculated every five years based on the size of each country's economy and population.

Yahoo News - Germany has earned some 2.9 billion euros ($3.5 billion) since 2010 on Greek debt bought to help the struggling country, a government report seen by AFP showed Thursday.

"Contrary to all the rightwing myths, Germany profited massively from the crisis in Greece," said Sven-Christian Kindler, a Greens party MP whose question to the finance ministry uncovered the figure.

The European Central Bank could end its bond purchases this year if the economic upswing continues, taking another step on a long road to unwinding unconventional stimulus, Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said on Tuesday.

Without a post-bailout program framework, the special status allowing Greek banks to enjoy European Central Bank financing will be lost, ECB governing council member Benoit Coeure is said to have told Greek bankers on Monday in Frankfurt, while Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann also expressed support for such a framework for Greece.

Germany’s economy is facing a host of risks -- from high real estate prices to weak banks -- but investors may be ignoring vulnerabilities given the country’s eight-year economic run, the Bundesbank said on Nov. 29.

It is now 25 years since George Soros and Robert Johnson* speculated against the pound,  costing £3.3 billion in losses, and forcing the UK out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) that paved the way for the euro currency.

According to Johnson this “tough love” was necessary!

Germany’s central bank has brought much of its gold reserve back to Frankfurt, the Bundesbank said on Wednesday, restoring a bulwark of economic stability the country had stashed away at the height of the Cold War.