As a result, the ECB adjusted the distribution of liquidity supply over the course of a maintenance period, by increasing the supply at the beginning of the period and reducing it later in the period (the so-called frontloading), so that the average supply of liquidity remained unchanged over the whole reserve maintenance period.
In such an environment, very low policy rates could be in place for longer, and unconventional monetary policies could even be expanded in some major countries. But  4  Bank of Canada Financial System Review, June 2010 and December 2009. 5  This analysis has been conducted with data from the Canadian Financial Monitor survey by Ipsos Reid Canada.