In the euro area, there has been a strong focus on interest rate risks over recent years, including a dedicated stress test in 2017 and a thematic review last year.
For instance, if excess liquidity keeps declining, as determined by the banks, there may be pressure on short rates to increase. To this picture we also have to add the international dimension – notably the risk of spillovers from the US. We already saw that the announcement of a tapering of outright purchases resulted in higher money market rates in Europe.