  Since Lehman Brothers’ collapse, the real interest rate in the short-term money market has been hovering around zero. 2. Major policy tasks  Enhancing macro-prudential soundness Spurred on by the financial crisis, a lively debate has sprung up about whether central banks should play an active role not just in maintaining price stability but also financial stability.
  The rationale here is that because central banks maintain close linkages with financial market participants they are in a position to pick up on financial system problems at an early stage while in a financial crisis they carry out the role of lender of last resort.