Countries with significant presence of cooperative banks are Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy. 13. Experience from around the world shows that cooperatives have been strong in countries where they have received definitive policy support from the respective governments in the initial stages. How they later evolved differs from country to country.
But to the extent that forward guidance reduced uncertainty about the future path of interest rates, it has not only affected the expectations component but also the term premium. Yet, the main channel through which we – and other major central banks – have recently exerted measurable downward pressure on the term premium, and this is my third example, is through asset purchases.