The Bank also introduced the Lombard-type lending facility whereby financial institutions can borrow funds, within the eligible collateral pledged, from the Bank at the official discount rate that is now 0.1 percent. The Bank has widened the range of eligible collateral to asset-backed securities (ABSs) and many other new financial assets.
As I mentioned earlier, several central bank officials overseas have commented recently on conceivable options of monetary easing under the “zero lower bound” of short-term interest rates.