I will now turn to three specific remarks of global relevance, before I make two concluding observations that are specific to the euro area. A. General remarks  At a global level, the financial crisis created an environment in which many central banks resorted to unconventional measures because the conventional instrument, the short-term policy rate, had become constrained by the lower bound.
Consistent with this view, manufacturers interviewed by the Bank for our spring Business Outlook Survey indicated that, in an effort to improve competitiveness or to create opportunities for growth, they are planning to increase their investments in machinery and equipment. Such intentions are somewhat more prominent among small and medium-sized firms and among export-oriented firms.