I therefore do not intend to discuss this specific issue today, but refer to the comprehensive academic literature. 2 Many analysts would argue that both of these changes, at least partly, share a basis, namely higher global saving, which, in turn, is a result of the world having become richer. 3 But I would like to separate them, as the discussion has primarily come to focus on the lower level of interest rates. The fact that the financial sector has also changed in several respects is something that needs to be given more attention, considering that the conditions on the financial markets steer how monetary policy is designed and acts. Allow me, therefore, to make a brief digression on the subject. In the 1970s and 1980s, the world's capital markets were gradually deregulated. This, combined with good global growth, which is to say a richer world, and the development of information technology, led to strong development on the global financial markets in terms of outstanding volumes, turnover and new instruments. The development had major advantages. With less regulation, the financial sector’s basic functions – executing payments, allocating savings to investments and managing risk – could be better managed, at the same time as the strong growth on the financial markets contributed to the strong growth in the global economy. But a larger financial sector has also led to greater potential risks, as exemplified by the financial crisis twelve years ago.
Preparedness to act rapidly and in several different ways has now become part of ordinary monetary policy in Sweden and other countries. During the financial crisis, the Riksbank did not carry out asset purchases. Monetary policy was instead primarily broadened by new forms of, and conditions for lending to the banks. But in 2012, the Riksbank purchased government bonds for SEK 10 billion, a relatively small amount in the context, to create operational preparedness in the event that large-scale asset purchases would later become necessary. And in 2015, when inflation had been too low for too long and the ECB was initiating large-scale purchases of bonds, the Riksbank was able, in a relatively simple way, to make monetary policy more expansionary - that is, to hold down the general level of interest rates in Sweden - via large purchases of government bonds. Correspondingly, this year, we have decided on the purchase of corporate bonds to a value of SEK 10 billion to strengthen monetary policy preparedness. We are thus building up an operational capacity in the event a highly unfavourable scenario arises and more comprehensive purchases, for example of corporate bonds, become necessary to ensure that lending and the financial conditions do not deteriorate too much. In this context, I need to address the Riksbank Inquiry. Previously, in its consultation response, the Riksbank has questioned the actual starting point for the Inquiry's way of looking at monetary policy.