However, Figure 4 shows that the difference between these rates and the Riksbank's policy rate does not appear to have been affected by the asset purchases.14 Government bond purchases thus appear to have pushed down the interest rate on government bonds to a certain limit. However, there are no signs that this caused households and companies to encounter lower interest rates. It is therefore very unclear whether the result was that the economy was stimulated via the interest rate channel.15  13 The market is dominated by so-called FRN-bonds, where the coupon follows STIBOR 3 months. 14 Erikson and Vestin (2021) show a similar figure. Some larger companies also finance themselves through the  bond market. However, when the Riksbank began purchasing government bonds, this form of financing was fairly unusual and accounted for only 22 per cent of the companies' total borrowing (see the Riksbank, 2014). Moreover, it is common for companies' bond loans to have variable interest rates. As turnover in the market is small, it is difficult to follow price developments. Nevertheless, the statistics indicate that rates on corporate bonds fell less than those on government bonds in 2015 and 2016. 15 However, the lower interest rates could reasonably contribute to a lower central government borrowing cost, something I will return to in a moment. However, this was not the purpose of the Riksbank's purchases. 7 [30]  Figure 4. Lending rates have followed the policy rate Per cent  Note.
The financial results accumulated over time are therefore not quite as negative as indicated by the change in value this year.32 Table 2 and Table 3 show the accumulated financial results broken down by the different phases of the purchase programme and the different assets purchased.33 Table 2. Financial result of the Riksbank's purchases in the various phases Phase 1 (decisions 2015-2019) −5 Phase 2a (decisions March 2020 – June 2020) −24 Phase 2b (decisions November 2020 – June 2022) −19 Total −47 Note. SEK billion. Refers to total results since the start of the purchases and is based on market valuation on 30 November 2022. Most of the losses that now occur can be linked to purchases during and after the pandemic (phase 2). Government bonds have fallen more in value than covered bonds this year, despite the fact that the holdings were about the same at the beginning of the year. This is because government bonds, especially those purchased in phase 2, have a longer maturity and are therefore more sensitive to changes in interest rates. Otherwise, the losses in Table 3 reflect approximately the proportion of our holdings accounted for by each asset class. Table 3. Financial results of the Riksbank's purchases of different asset types Government bonds −20 Municipal bonds −6 Covered bonds −21 Corporate bonds 0 Total −47 Note. SEK billion. Refers to total results since the start of the purchases and is based on market valuation on 30 November 2022.