Looking further within a subset of small open economies, Ireland is less negatively affected than Singapore or Sweden, but more affected than Switzerland and New Zealand for example. Today, the responsiveness to the global economy is particularly relevant with weakening global growth prospects and subdued global final demand. *** Turning now to structural vulnerabilities.
The rates for treasury discount bills (T-Bills) declined to negative territory in September and remained there for most of the time since then (Chart 3). The payment of negative interest on securities sounds counter-intuitive and thus may prompt concern that Japan’s financial markets are suffering a serious malfunction.