It is true that the on-going rebalancing process in the euro area – and the associated shifts in the relative supply of private savings and demand for loans – will tend to affect the natural interest rate. In particular, downward pressures can be expected from increased saving and  4  See Summers, Lawrence H. (2014), “U.S.
My point is that the degrees of independence that the ECB enjoys as a monetary policy authority on the one hand, and a banking supervisor on the other differ: both the source of independence and the ECB’s role are different in the two functions.