As a result of this reduction, we are providing unlimited funding to banks at a rate of 1.00 per cent. In addition, sound and creditworthy banks can secure overnight funds in the interbank market at a rate that is between the 1.00 per cent main policy rate and the deposit rate, the latter of which is only 0.25 per cent.
In 2000 GDP is estimated to have expanded by 2.7 per cent. From the middle of the year onwards consumption was held back by the increase in energy prices; this reduced private sector disposable income significantly, by more than 1 per cent of GDR Inflation was marginally higher than in the other European countries, but the latest data suggest that a gap could re-open.