At that time an official discount rate of 1.75 percent was considered extremely low and was indeed the lowest level of this rate since the Bank began operation in 1882, a period that included the financial crisis of 1927 and the fiscal expansion policy adopted by Finance Minister Korekiyo Takahashi in the 1930s.
In retrospect, however, there was an enviable amount of room left for interest rate reductions, and hence interest rates were useful as policy tools. BIS Review 29/2003  1  Recently, in contrast, not only the overnight call rate but almost all money market rates have declined to a level close to zero percent.