The policy package is found to have had a substantial impact, contributing 2.7 percentage points to euro area real GDP growth between 2015 and 2018 and 1.3 percentage points to inflation.
At least one-fifth of the overall impact on growth in the year that it peaked – 2017 – is attributable to negative rates, with asset purchases accounting for most of the remainder.5 Our assessment of these measures also included possible side effects. All monetary policies have side effects, even in normal times, and impact on some groups more than others.