Germany: Staff Report for the 2019 Article IV Consultation—Informational Annex
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International Monetary Fund. European Dept.
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2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Germany

Abstract

2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Germany

Fund Relations

(As of May 31st, 2019; unless specified otherwise)

Mission: May 7–17, 2019 in Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt, Munich and Nuremberg. The concluding statement of the mission is available at

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2019/05/17/Germany-Staff-Concluding-S tatement-of-the-2019-Article-IV-Mission

Staff team: Ms. Detragiache (head), Ms. Kozack, Mses. Chen, Dao, Mineshima, Mr. Natal (all EUR), Ms. Perry, Messrs. Klemm, and Hebous (all FAD) and Ms. Fernando (LEG).

Country interlocutors: State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Schmidt, Bundesbank President Weidmann, officials from the Federal Chancellor’s office, the Finance, Economic Affairs, Labor, and Environment Ministries, the Bundesbank, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Mr. Meyer and Mr. Buetzer (OED) participated in the discussions. Additional meetings took place with representatives from the social partners, the banking and insurance sectors, think tanks, and academics.

Fund relations: The previous Article IV consultation discussions took place during

May 2018 and the staff report was discussed by the Executive Board on June 29, 2018. The

Executive Board’s assessment and staff report are available at https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2018/07/04/Germany-2018-Article-IV-Consultation-Press-Release-Staff-Report-and-Statement-by-the-46049

Membership Status: Joined August 14, 1952; Article VIII.

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Outstanding Purchases and Loans: None

Financial Arrangements: None

Projected Payments to Fund (SDR Million; based on existing use of resources and present holdings of SDRs, as of April 30, 2019):

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1/ When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.

Exchange Rate Arrangement

Germany’s currency is the euro, which floats freely and independently against other currencies.

Germany is an Article VIII member and maintains an exchange system free of restrictions on payments and transfers for current international transactions. It maintains measures adopted for security reasons, which have been notified to the Fund for approval in accordance with the procedures of Decision 144 and does so solely for the preservation of national or international security.

Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT)

Germany is currently preparing for their forthcoming comprehensive AML/CFT assessment by the Financial Action Task Force (FAFTF) that is scheduled to take place between 2020 and 2021. Germany was last assessed against the previous AML/CFT standard in 2009. Since that time, the legal and organizational framework for AML/CFT has been comprehensively restructured, including to transpose the EU’s fourth Money Laundering Directive. In addition, efforts are also underway to transpose the EU’s fifth Money Laundering Directive into national law. Notably, a revised and restructured Anti-money laundering Law (Geldwäschegesetz) came into effect on June 26, 2017. In addition, authorities introduced a Transparency Register in June 2017, to hold information on the ultimate beneficial owners of legal persons (e.g., companies, partnerships) and arrangements (trusts). The register is accessible to competent authorities, and more broadly to the general public provided that a legitimate interest can be stated on a case-by-case basis. Authorities are also working to strengthen risk-based supervision in line with the FSAP’s main AML recommendation to increase the effectiveness of the AML/CFT supervisory framework over cross-border banks.

Statistical Issues

(As of June 10, 2019)

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Germany: Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance

(As of June 4, 2019)

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Includes reserve assets pledged or otherwise encumbered as well as net derivative positions.

Pertains to contribution to EMU aggregate.

Both market-based and officially -determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes, and bonds.

Foreign, domestic bank, and domestic nonbank financing.

The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.

Including currency and maturity com position

Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-a-vis nonresidents.

Daily (D); weekly (W); monthly (M); quarterly (Q); annually (A); irregular (I); and not available (NA)

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