6 Moreover, it becomes more likely to repay debt. The effect of negative rates is not limited to financial decisions. Firms that are charged negative deposit rates also increase employment and investment in fixed capital compared to other firms. These findings suggest that the response of firms to changes in deposit rates is non-linear at zero.
National plans should, in any event, be drawn up to cope with the eventuality of residual recapitalization requirements, given the decision that the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will only be able to intervene directly when the Single Supervisory Mechanism becomes fully operational.