The slightly negative interest rates support our asset purchase programme. If we had not had them, we might have needed to buy greater volumes to achieve the same effects. But the net purchases are becoming increasingly less significant. And the sequencing is something that the markets have understood very well.
Let me begin my discussion on how to achieve this by briefly reviewing the structure of financial intermediation in the euro area and how it is affecting SMEs today. Financial intermediation and SMEs In the euro area, banks have historically played an important role in financing the real economy.