For the January–March quarter, the year-on-year rate of change in real compensation of employees registered minus 0.6 percent, which was significantly lower than the 3.7 percent increase in real private consumption. In a situation where real wages per employee are likely to continue declining for the time being, the pace of improvement in real compensation of employees is likely to be moderate.
For example, the legal definition of banking operations in Germany was extended to include prepaid card business and network money business by amending the Banking Act. Yet attention must always be paid to sensitivity in confidence and to possible dangers for the functioning of the financial system.