BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Low inflation and the impossibility of pushing nominal interest rates significantly below zero meant that there was little scope for lowering real interest rates and easing credit conditions by conventional means.
Official short-term interest rates – the instrument of choice for central banks – were cut aggressively but soon hit the zero lower bound, where most of them have remained for the past five years (Chart 1). This in itself was an “unconventional” development. Official short-term rates had never been as low or had remained there for as long.