Engen, Laubach, and Reifschneider estimated that the Federal Reserve’s asset purchases are currently holding down term premiums by about 60 basis points, less than the estimate of Bonis, Ihrig, and Wei, but their findings still imply a similar small effect of bringing forward the date of normalization by six months; see Bonis, Ihrig, and Wei, “Effect of the Federal Reserve’s Securities Holdings,” and Engen, Laubach, and Reifschneider, “Macroeconomic Effects,” in note 16.
•  We remain what analysts refer to as a bank-centric market, with the bulk of financing emanating from our banks rather than the capital market. •  For the equities market, we have 262 publicly-listed companies with a market capitalization amounting to USD 279.5 billion.