Deutsche Bundesbank: Target balance stagnates at over one trillion euros

Deutsche Bundesbank: Target balance stagnates at over one trillion euros

The German Target balance, according to the Deutsche Bundesbank as of March 31, amounts to a significant sum of over one trillion euros. This balance represents the Bundesbank's claims on the European Central Bank in the Target system, which handles cross-border payment transactions in the euro area between banks and central banks. Originally known as Target-2, the system has now been renamed simply Target, perhaps due to negative associations with the previous facility.

A notable development is the stagnation of the balance in recent times, although there has already been a noticeable decline in the long term. On average for the month of March, the balance was 1.0743 trillion euros, in February 1.0747 trillion euros, in January 1.0629 trillion euros and in December 2023 1.0701 trillion euros. This represents a 0.7 percent decline in January, followed by a 1.1 percent increase in February and another 0.04 percent decline in March. These fluctuations show a certain stagnation and inconsistency. Over the year, there was even a decline of 5 percent.