Savings banks are experiencing a slump in Germany

Frankfurt The booming construction financing business in Germany has collapsed at many banks and savings banks. As early as September, new business fell drastically compared to the same month last year – in some cases by up to 30 percent. This is shown by a Handelsblatt survey of regional savings banks and cooperative associations.

At the savings banks in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, business last month fell by around a third compared to the previous year. In the Rhineland, Westphalia and Lower Saxony, the credit volume was about 20 percent lower, the East German Savings Banks Association reports a slightly smaller minus.

The burglary followed abruptly. Savings Bank President Helmut Schleweis said in an interview with the Handelsblatt in mid-October: “Demand collapsed from one day to the next, many projects in the planning stage are being cancelled.”