Indeed, our statements were widely reported as a commitment that the Board would not raise rates until 2024. This meant that when we did lift interest rates in May this year, many people saw us as going back on this commitment and this has hurt our reputation. We are committed to learning from this experience.
The reduction in the deposit facility rate was passed on to short-term market interest rates and the recovery in the net purchases of financial assets exerted renewed downward pressure on long-term rates.