A prolonged low inflation rate environment carries risks for banks and insurance firms. Low interest rates increase the danger of riskier investment behaviour; overheating or price bubbles in other asset classes can easily arise. ...especially, when an economic region as heterogeneous as the euro area is governed by a single interest rate.
Occasionally, those who are comfortable in what they have been doing so far may feel that we are moving too fast. They fail to recognise that we are now operating in a very dynamic environment. We just cannot afford to have a domestic financial sector where core elements are resistant to change.