Chart 3: Paths for policy rates implied by forward market interest rates UK EA  US Japan  Per 3.5  Chart 4: International policy rates over time Higher than 5% Between 1% and 3% Less than zero  Between 3% and 5% Between 0% and 1%  Proportion of regions  100%  3.0 2.5  80%  2.0 60%  1.5 1.0  40%  0.5 0.0  20%  -0.5 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 2000  Sources: Bloomberg and Bank Calculations. Notes: Instantaneous forward rates based on OIS contracts for the UK and euro area and government bonds for the US and Japan. 2005  2010  0% 2015  Sources: Thomson Reuters Datastream, CEIC and Bank calculations. Notes: Included regions are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Euro area, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and US. Together these countries account for approximately 70% of PPP-weighted world GDP. Of course, what goes down can also bounce back up. Recently, there has been some upwards movement in UK and US yield curves. But yields elsewhere, especially in Europe, have continued to fall. And the longer-term trend is clear: a persistent ratcheting-down in interest rates across all maturities and virtually all countries, to reach unprecedentedly low levels. As a recent example of that, Chart 5 plots the UK forward curve at monthly intervals over the past 9 months.
There are experts to discuss these topics in this Forum and let me not pre-empt them. I hope the deliberations today will bring such issues into light and that there will be a meaningful discussion. I wish the seminar a success. 2  BIS Review 64/2007