Second, fragmentation often reflects structural differences and is not bad per se. Third, that the banking union will be an important step towards more  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  integrated financial markets. And last but not least, differences or fragmentation in the real economy may be justified as well.
The policy rates were expected to remain at their current levels through the summer of 2019. Since then, the incoming data during the first months of 2019 have confirmed that global economic activity has slowed down, which is now felt also in the euro area.