•  Between 1995 and 2006 the composition of euro-area households’ financial assets has progressively shifted away from traditional instruments, such as banknotes and deposits, to more sophisticated financial assets whose prices are more sensitive to market movements and credit risk.
For example, on 8 October this year we cut interest rates simultaneously with six other central banks, when we saw inflationary pressures easing, as well as inflation expectations diminishing and remaining anchored to price stability. The People’s Bank of China itself mirrored these efforts and decided on the very same day to cut its benchmark deposit and lending rates and commercial bank reserve requirements.