Joachim Nagel: Presentation of the Deutsche Bundesbank's Annual Report 2025
Introductory statement by Dr Joachim Nagel, President of the Deutsche Bundesbank, at the press conference presenting the Annual Report 2025, Frankfurt am Main, 5 March 2026.
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
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1 Welcome
Ladies and gentlemen,
Welcome to our annual accounts press conference.
First Deputy Governor Sabine Maunderer will explain the Bundesbank's annual accounts to you in more detail in just a few moments.
I would like to start by saying a few words on the developments in the Middle East: the economic repercussions of the war will depend largely on how long the conflict continues. They could arise through a variety of channels. At present, the most significant of these are oil and gas prices: they have risen considerably. For monetary policy, the crucial factor is whether these are temporary supply shocks that we should look beyond.
If the conflict comes to a swift end, a political agreement is reached, and there is, at most, minimal damage to the energy infrastructure in the region, then energy prices could soon fall again. In this case, the consequences for inflation would be short-term and limited overall. By contrast, if energy prices were to remain elevated for an extended period of time, this would tend to lead to higher inflation and weaker economic activity in the euro area.
It is still too early to draw any monetary policy conclusions from this volatile situation. We are well advised to carefully analyse the impact on our medium-term inflation target.
And this already brings us to the topics that I would like to address today: How are economic activity and prices developing? What does this mean for monetary policy in the euro area? How have developments in 2025 impacted the Bundesbank's profit and loss account?