. even if german banks are in a better position than the financial institutions of some other member states, there is no reason for complacency. on the one hand, excessive costs have until now prevented the building up of additional equity. and, on the other hand, competition in the german banking sector is likely to intensify noticeably. as a result of the financial crisis, some of the larger german banks are changing tack. they are increasingly focusing leibniz - institut fur wirtschaftsforschung halle ( iwh ) ( 2015 ), “ “ the german saver ” and the low policy rate environment ”, iwh online, no 9 / 2015. bindseil et al. ( 2015 ), “ critique of accommodating central bank policies and the ‘ expropriation of the saver ’ – a review ”, occasional paper series, no 161, ecb ; executive office of the president of the united states ( 2015 ), “ long - term interest rates : a survey ”. bean et al. ( 2015 ), “ low for long? causes and consequences of persistently low interest rates ”, geneva reports on the world economy, no 17, international center for monetary and banking studies. see the december 2015 survey conducted by the gesellschaft fur konsumforschung ( gfk ) on behalf of the bundesverband deutscher banken ( association of german banks ). 13 deutsche bundesbank ( 2016 ), “ acquisition of financial assets and external financing in germany in the third quarter of 2015 – results of the financial accounts by sector ”, press release, 15 january. grabka, m. m. and westermeier, c. ( 2015 ), “ reale nettovermogen der privathaushalte in deutschland sind von 2003 bis 2013 geschrumpft ”, diw wochenbericht, no 34 / 2015, pp. 727 – 738. bis central bankers ’ speeches on traditional corporate clients and retail business and are scaling back investment banking activities. furthermore, technological progress is making it easier for foreign banks to gain access to the german market. both the smaller and larger german banks are feeling the effects of this development. the pressure to adjust should also rise for german savings banks. even if there was hardly any need for the savings bank sector to adjust its business model in the past, its stability is not set in stone. intensified competition within an environment

. so as things stand right now, there is no reason to worry about the euro area recovering in 2015 and 2016. mind you, all these factors are short - term. one possible concern is the ability to boost the potential growth of the euro area, which has been hit hard by the crisis. that ’ s more a long - term issue, though. aren ’ t you afraid that one of the effects of qe will be to create price bubbles for certain assets? does the ecb have the means to combat these side effects? our actions do have an impact on asset prices ; you just have to look at the way markets have risen since the public asset purchases started. we monitor risks to financial stability very closely : tommaso padoa - schioppa used to say this was in central banks ’ dna. but let ’ s not forget that the objective of monetary policy is price stability. financial stability involves different tools. as far as we are concerned, it ’ s a question of bank regulation and “ macroprudential ” tools. there is one effect you didn ’ t mention : this policy cuts governments ’ interest rate costs and potentially gives them room for fiscal manoeuvre again. that is not our objective. monetary policy serves to guarantee price stability and support the productive economy. where countries have room for fiscal manoeuvre, lowering rates bis central bankers ’ speeches increases the scope that can be used to support growth, particularly by increasing investment. where countries do not have this room for manoeuvre, such as france, my advice would be to use the lower rates to lend credibility to debt reduction, rather than to increase spending or cut taxes. however, that ’ s not a matter for the ecb to decide. it ’ s the european commission that is the guardian of the fiscal policy framework in the euro area. would you say that qe is helping immunise the euro area against the risk of an exit by a member state, even if this is not its objective? i wouldn ’ t put it like that. it is certainly reducing the risk of contagion in the euro area, but the context right now is very different from 2012. the problem for countries such as portugal, spain and ireland is no longer an exit from the euro area, far from it. their main concern now is how to capitalise on the return of growth in order to step up the reduction in unemployment and return to normal as quickly as possible. i am