“We still have a lot to do!”

On the sidelines of the summit, Manfred Knof, CEO of Commerzbank, spoke in a video interview about the current challenges affecting the German economy: “I hear many of my clients’ concerns and fears relating to the economic downturn, but also to the structural problems in our country.”

In his interview, he stresses the urgent need for a future-oriented agenda that brings together the most important pillars of our economy – education, digitalization, energy and infrastructure: “What I perceive, is discussion on single aspects, only. But that is not enough. It would help to tie it all together in an holistic agenda for the future.”

In addition, Knof comments on the upcoming interest rate development: “Of course, we also expect the first interest rate steps by the ECB to be announced soon. But that’s going to be moderate in terms of duration and severity.” Due to the stronger focus on provisions, Commerzbank plans to become more independent of interest rate developments in the long term.