The specific and targeted changes to our operational framework – some of which can be called “non-standard” – have played a critical role: they have been instrumental in organising the defence against the systemic liquidity risk that occurred in September last year and in preserving the availability of credit for households and companies at accessible rates, thereby creating the conditions for the best possible transmission of our subsequent easing of monetary conditions.
We cut our key interest rate in a series of seven unprecedented steps by a cumulative 325 basis points within about half a year. The Eurosystem is currently providing unlimited refinancing at 1.0% in its main refinancing operations. From a historical perspective, these measures are unprecedented in terms of their breadth and depth.