Indeed, the Bank’s policy rate today is 0.5 per cent, just one-quarter point above the record low set in 2009, a dark time for the global economy. Back then, at the height of the financial crisis, we believed that our key rate was at its effective lower bound, and we would need other tools in order to provide any additional monetary stimulus.
As a result, the Bank spelled out how it would conduct unconventional policies in an annex to our April 2009 MPR. Since then, we have reflected on our experience and have seen how other central banks have conducted their own unconventional policies. We have updated that document and are publishing it on our website today.