This logic applies not only to our policy interest rate but also to the other measures we have adopted in response to the crisis. When the crisis hit, dysfunctional financial markets threatened our ability to steer the outlook for price stability with our standard interest rate instrument.
In response, we adopted a number of non-standard measures to ensure that our interest rate decisions were transmitted to the broader economy, despite the problems in the financial sector and financial markets. In particular, the aim has been to enable banks – at any level of the monetary policy interest rate – to continue lending to household and firms.