5 I will not go in to it here, but merely note that a majority of us on the Executive Board has regarded the current repo rate as in practice being the lower bound. This zero interest rate problem received much attention in the academic world in connection with the Japanese central bank cutting its policy rate to zero as a result of the economic stagnation in the 1990s. One of the possible solutions if a central bank has cut its policy rate to its lower bound, and wants to cut it further, is to promise a policy rate around zero for a long time to come. Over time this would have a similar effect to cutting the interest rate to below zero and then raising it to above zero. The repo rate path facilitated communication During the financial crisis, lessons from this research became surprisingly topical for a number of countries in addition to Japan. The repo rate path fulfilled a central role here, as it enabled the Riksbank to make clear its intentions for monetary policy during an uncertain situation. When the Riksbank cut the repo rate to 0.25 per cent in July last year, the repo rate path signalled a low repo rate for a long period ahead. I believe this gave us an advantage over many other central banks, who tried to use purely verbal methods to signal that their policy rates would be low for a long time. Credibility plays an important role in monetary policy.
5 Richard H. Clarida, Vice Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, The Federal Reserve’s  Review of Its Monetary Policy Strategy, Tools, and Communications Practices , speech delivered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, April 9, 2019. 3/3  BIS central bankers' speeches