euro area. a deep understanding of how the economy responds to various shocks or policy changes requires detailed information on the structure and composition of household finances. central banks have long been involved in the collection and analysis of such data. in 1983, the federal reserve system launched its survey of consumer finances. several other central banks have since followed suit. here in europe, the ecb and the national central banks of the euro area have launched the household finance and consumption survey. the data collected by the survey are a wealth of information on the finances of over 62, 000 households across 15 countries in the euro area. in april 2013, the ecb published the results of the first wave, triggering substantial research activity. for example, ecb analysis of the immediate impact of the financial crisis suggests that between 2008 and 2013 high - income households experienced the largest declines in saikia, a., frost, j., how does unconventional monetary policy affect inequality? evidence from japan, dnb working paper no. 423, may 2014. bis central bankers ’ speeches wealth. 8 but the impact on consumer spending by low - income households was probably also magnified owing to their stronger response to wealth shocks. in the context of concerns about inequality, the survey data can be used to assess changing financial pressures on euro area households – as measured, for example, by the debt service - to - income ratio. that ratio can be used to gauge households ’ capacity to take on new loans or service existing debt, making it an indicator of their ability to cope with financial shocks. the debt service - to - income ratio has recently been affected by two countervailing factors, the magnitude of which varies across countries and households : first, a decline in interest rates ; and second, an increase in unemployment rates, which has caused declines in income for some households. ecb analysis finds that between 2008 and 2013 although households with variable rate mortgages have benefited from declines in interest rates, the impact that falling rates have had on the debt service - to - income ratios of low - income households has been dampened by the fact that those poorer households have been disproportionately affected by rises in unemployment. conclusion let me conclude. as i noted at the start, the ecb has a clear mandate to deliver price stability – and that mandate does not involve policies aimed at the distribution of wealth, income or consumption. nevertheless, we need to be aware that there are distributional consequences of our actions – and these may well be

particularly significant at times of exceptionally low interest rates and non - standard measures. it seems clear that there are different effects on different parts of society. there is no clear evidence whether standard monetary policy has a dampening or intensifying effect on economic inequality. non - conventional monetary policy however, in particular large scale asset purchases, seem to widen income inequality, although this is challenging to quantify. still, a central bank with a clear mandate to safeguard price stability needs to act forcefully when push comes to shove. these distributional side - effects then need to be tolerated. but they clearly should not last too long. they are one more reason to recognise that the nonstandard measures we have introduced have to be temporary. thank you for your attention. see ecb monthly bulletin, the financial vulnerability of euro area households – evidence from the eurosystem ’ s household finance and consumption survey, forthcoming. bis central bankers ’ speeches