Unconventional monetary policies Since the recent financial crisis, major central banks have also been implementing unconventional policies that aim at stabilizing economic activity. These are intended to deal with the challenge of achieving monetary easing effects to return the economy to a stable recovery path when nominal short-term interest rates are already near zero.
One example is the increase in the government bond purchases decided by the Federal Reserve in the autumn of 2010, which aimed at absorbing interest risks in the private sector and lowering long-term interest rates.