BIS Review 6/1999  –3–  In the meantime, this situation has been overcome. The spread between the highest and the lowest rates reported to the ECB by banks of the EONIA (Euro Overnight Index Average) panel has narrowed from 21 basis points on 4 January to below 10 basis points.
What we can say for sure is that the crisis is going to be over before long. Exactly when… we don’t know. No crisis has lasted forever in the past because things cannot keep getting much, much worse forever. But for things to show the first sustainable signs of improvement, consumers must start consuming, investors must start investing, and banks must start lending.