In the Federal Republic of Germany, by contrast, the opening-up of borders for capital movements and the liberalisation of interest rates began at an early stage.
At that time, the foundations were laid for the D-Mark’s subsequent reputation and attractiveness, which was to make the young German currency the second most important international investment and reserve currency next to the US dollar - something which happened more quickly than seemed desirable in the light of financial markets which were then still “underdeveloped” in some respects.