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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - The corona crisis has left deep marks on the balance sheet of the Deutsche Bundesbank: For the first time since 1979, the transfer from Frankfurt has been canceled for the Federal Minister of Finance.
"The increased risk provisioning is the main reason why the Bundesbank shows a balanced annual result for 2020," said Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann.
A year earlier, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) was able to look forward to a comparatively large transfer from Frankfurt: In 2019, the Bundesbank had achieved the highest profit since the financial crisis with 5.85 billion euros - mainly because it spent less money on possible risks the common monetary policy under the leadership of the European Central Bank (ECB).
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In the Corona crisis, the ECB again significantly expanded the purchase of government and corporate bonds.
According to the Bundesbank, the risk of default has increased again, which is why it increased its so-called risk provision by 2.4 billion euros to 18.8 billion euros.
However, this only partially covers the increase in risks, said Weidmann.
"We therefore expect a further increase in the risk provision for the current year, especially since a fundamental change in the risk situation is not expected."
The Federal Ministry of Finance traditionally plans a Bundesbank profit of 2.5 billion euros in the federal budget - also for 2021. Since the introduction of the euro in 1999, the Bundesbank has made a profit every year, the highest in 2001 with a good 11.2 billion euros.
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It is true that the Bundesbank also benefits proportionally from the ECB's profit.
However, at a good 1.6 billion euros, this was also significantly lower in 2020 than a year earlier (2.4 billion euros).
The ECB's surplus is distributed to the national central banks of the 19 euro countries.
The Bundesbank receives a good 26 percent and thus the largest part in accordance with its share of the paid-in capital in the ECB.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210303-99-667584 / 3