DISCLAIMER

in times of crisis

DISCLAIMER

IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS Non-standard policies are one among the many innovations adopted by central banks as they fought the Great Financial Crisis and its equally dramatic aftermath. Although the ECB was at the forefront of the early efforts to keep banking systems afloat, it has lag ged behind the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England as far as reviving the economy is concerned. Non-standard policies are designed to extend an expansionary stance when the interest rate reaches the lower zero bound. It is only in May 2014 that the ECB has reached – in fact passed – the zero lower bound. It has yet to engage into non-standard monetary policy. Nor has the ECB acted as lender of last resort until mid-2012, thus being slow in adopting a practice that used to be considered as non-standard as well. This paper is one in a series of nine documents prepared by Policy Department A for the Monetary Dialogue discussions in the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON)