-6Looking at the smallest community banks, those with less than $ million in assets, gives some hints for why their numbers have declined. The average ROA for the smallest banks (in purple, with circles) has been consistently lower than that for the nextsmallest class of banks since 1995. The already lower level of profits for the smallest banks began to decline further in 2006.
All of these considerations supported monetary expansion, meaning a reduction in the interest rate. Against these considerations, there is, of course, the housing market and the continued increase in home prices. In this context, I will mention that there are other tools available to the Supervisor of Banks in order to reduce the risks in this market, and we have used these tools.