” 6 but are these a risk to the wider economy? it ’ s reassuring that easy conditions in markets have not led the corporate sector to take on an unusually high level of leverage. as a multiple of earnings, corporate debt in this country is around its long term average level. nevertheless, developments in corporate debt bear close scrutiny, because we cannot take for granted that it will stay this way. the united states, where corporate debt levels have been testing previous highs, shows this to be more than a hypothetical possibility. the uk ’ s largest companies – those with access to capital markets – report that credit has become easily available. 7 corporate debt in the uk has been growing at a not insignificant annual rate of 6. 2 %. and notably, riskier forms of debt – those most sensitive to a change in market conditions – have recently been growing most rapidly. issuance of leveraged loans and high yield bonds reached a record level last year. 8 paragraph 5 of ‘ record of the financial policy committee meeting on 12 march 2018 ’, available here. see chart 11 in deloitte ( 2018 ), ‘ the deloitte cfo survey q1 2018 ’, available here. leveraged loans are loans to companies that typically display some of the following characteristics : high levels of indebtedness, a non - investment grade credit rating or ownership by a private equity sponsor. the latter is defined as bonds rated below investment grade. all speeches are available online at www. bankofengland. co. uk / speeches last year more than half of the issuance was used to refinance existing debts more cheaply. in the early stages of this year, however, there are signs of that changing. issuance has been higher than in the same period last year and less is being used to refinance. 9 ( slide 9 ) these forms of debt accounted for around only 10 % of bond and bank loans issued to uk companies last year. but if the pattern of the first 3 months of the year were to continue, they would still – alone – add 3 % to the overall stock of corporate debt this year. so recent developments demand careful scrutiny. if they continue, we ’ ll need to assess, in particular, whether they increase the risks faced by banks. banks have demonstrated in recent stress tests their resilience to a sharp adjustment in credit market, and markets, rather than banks, have been the driving force behind recent growth. 10 but recent imf work shows how

to the concerns of the public and to carefully evaluate whether and how they may be able, within their mandate, to respond to these concerns. accountability is the quid pro quo of independence. the ecb is doing this diligently as part of its ongoing monetary policy strategy review. we are analysing the effects and side effects of our unconventional monetary policy instruments in depth. and we are exploring if and how, within our mandate, we can contribute to the broader objectives of the union, including by taking measures that will help accelerate the transition towards a more sustainable economy, while firmly adhering to our primary objective of price stability. thank you for your attention. 1. see, for example, the deloitte global millennial survey 2020. 2. various listening events, both with experts and with the general public, were held by the ecb and the eurosystem ’ s national central banks between october 2020 and february 2021. an overview of the ncb ’ s listening events is provided on the ecb website. 3. see, for example, calomiris et al. ( 2016 ), " political foundations of the lender of last resort : a global historical narrative, " journal of financial intermediation, vol. 28 ( c ), pp. 48 - 65. 4. see also goodfriend, m. ( 2007 ), “ how the world achieved consensus on monetary policy ”, journal of economic perspectives, 21 ( 4 ) : pp. 47 - 68 5. treaster, j. ( 2005 ), “ paul volcker : the making of a financial legend ”, john wiley & sons. 6. see haldane, a. ( 2018 ), “ climbing the public engagement ladder ”, speech at the royal society for the encouragement of arts, manufactures and commerce ( rsa ), 6 march. 7. see also schnabel, i. ( 2020 ), “ narratives about the ecb ’ s monetary policy – reality or fiction? ”, speech at the juristische studiengesellschaft, karlsruhe, 11 february. 8. see, for example, christelis, d., georgarakos, d., jappelli, t. and van rooij, m. ( 2020 ), “ trust in the central bank and inflation expectation ”, working paper series, no 2375, european central bank ; mellina, s. and schmidt, t. ( 2018 ), “ the role of