KfW

Frankfurt – October 29, 2026 -- Nearly 36 percent of German mid-sized companies still rated bank behavior in credit negotiations as restrictive in the third quarter of 2026, almost five percentage points fewer than in the prior quarter, according to the KfW-ifo Credit Hurdle. Lending conditions are easing, but remain tighter than the average of recent years.

Large corporates see restrictive lending fall to 27 percent

Just over 27 percent of surveyed large companies reported restrictive lending behavior by their banks. That is almost six percentage points below the previous quarter. KfW compiles the indicator each quarter from ifo Institute business survey data, broken down by company size and economic sector.

Frankfurt am Main – October 28, 2026 -- KfW committed €225 million through its ERP Founder Loan – StartGeld in the first half of 2026, a 75 percent increase on the same period of 2025.

KfW issues about 2,320 commitments, 34 percent more than a year earlier

Between January and June, the German promotional bank granted roughly 2,320 commitments under the programme, which covers business start-ups, company successions and the expansion of young businesses. Funding volume grew faster than the number of approvals (75 percent versus 34 percent). The KfW Start-up Monitor published in May had already shown rising company formation in Germany.

Frankfurt am Main – September 11, 2026 -- Germany has a realistic chance of restoring potential economic growth to more than 1% annually over the coming decade, according to a new KfW Research study, up from a rate that has slipped to barely above zero after standing near 2% in 2015.

KfW ties growth recovery to labor, capital and productivity gains

The study, titled "Standort Zukunft. Wie Deutschland zu neuer Stärke und Wachstum findet," identifies productivity as the most critical lever for reversing more than a decade of stagnation. KfW CEO Stefan Wintels and Chief Economist Dirk Schumacher presented the findings alongside a twelve-point policy paper in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt am Main – September 09, 2026 -- Thirty percent of German small and mid-sized companies (Mittelstand) with foreign business expect their cross-border revenues to decline over the next three years, according to a new KfW Research study, with 6 percent forecasting a sharp drop. Roughly 24 percent anticipate growth, while 47 percent expect no change.

The findings stem from a January 2026 survey conducted before the outbreak of the Iran conflict, meaning sentiment may have since deteriorated further.