The Federal Reserve is keenly interested in understanding how shifts in loan supply, loan demand, and borrower quality may be affecting lending and, by extension, the broader economy.
To maintain the symmetry of its inflation target, the Governing Council recognises the importance of taking into account the implications of the effective lower bound on nominal interest rates. In particular, when nominal interest rates tend to be low throughout the business cycle, like at present, the economy operates not too far from the lower bound.