[6] Moreover, the degree of financial market distress during the expansionary and contractionary phase and, in particular in the euro area context, the complementarities between asset purchases, rate guidance and the negative interest rate policy are likely to be relevant factors.
[7] Overall, a tentative conclusion about the impact of balance sheet actions on financial conditions in a normalisation phase is that the signalling channel will be weaker for a given adjustment to the size and  composition of our balance sheet than it was in a phase when our asset purchase programmes resulted in a rapid increase in our securities holdings during a relatively short period.