The slide of the GDP growth rate into negative territory raised the debt-to-GDP ratio to unsustainable levels despite the fiscal consolidation, and caused debt-servicing problems for households and businesses. This was the main, but not the exclusive, reason why NPLs rose dramatically, weakening banks’ asset quality, thus making it difficult for banks to finance the real economy.
The old part of this building complex, which today houses the Bank’s Regional Office in Hesse, was once the domicile of the Bank deutscher Länder. And the establishment in 1948 of the newly founded German central bank in Frankfurt is widely seen as marking the start of Frankfurt’s emergence as Germany’s leading financial centre.