Given that the interest rate on sight deposits held with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is currently standing at minus 75 basis points, we can rule out that the constraint binds strictly at zero. In the euro area, the interest rate on the deposit facility stands at minus 20 basis points.
We have got used to the fact that money market rates (as well as a good range of other interest rates) can be negative. So, one thing we have surely learned is that “zero is rather something minus”. In this particular sense, the “zero” lower bound has turned out to be less binding than previously thought.