But the term is normally understood to apply to more forceful measures, such as: •  providing long-term central bank funding to vehicles set up to acquire private securities or loans;  •  outright purchases by central banks of securities carrying credit risk; and  •  guaranteeing some part of the assets held by commercial banks.
These measures involve decisions about the allocation of credit between specific institutions and sectors of the economy. This is usually a funtion of fiscal policy, whereas monetary policy is normally general in its application. The measures therefore start to blur the distinction between monetary and fiscal policy.