speech going negative : the ecb ’ s experience speech by isabel schnabel, member of the executive board of the ecb, at the roundtable on monetary policy, low interest rates and risk taking at the 35th congress of the european economic association frankfurt am main, 26 august 2020 in june 2014, the ecb was the first major central bank to lower one of its key interest rates into negative territory. as experience with negative interest rates was scant, the ecb proceeded cautiously over time, lowering the deposit facility rate ( dfr ) in small increments of 10 basis points, until it reached - 0. 5 % in september 2019. while negative interest rates have, over time, become a standard instrument in the ecb ’ s toolkit, they remain controversial, both in central banking circles and academia. in my remarks today, i will review the ecb ’ s experience with its negative interest rate policy ( nirp ). i will argue that the transmission of negative rates has worked smoothly and that, in combination with other policy measures, they have been effective in stimulating the economy and raising inflation. on balance, the positive effects of the nirp have exceeded their side effects, in particular when taking into account the compensating effects of other policy innovations, such as the two - tier system and our targeted longer - term refinancing operations ( tltros ). at the same time, like with other unconventional policy measures, side effects are likely to increase over time, if the negative interest rate environment were to persist for too long. as negative rates are, by and large, a reflection of broader slow - moving adverse macroeconomic trends, the pandemic is a wake - up call for governments to foster innovation and potential growth, and to reap the benefits from further european integration. setting the scene over the past few decades, the global macroeconomic environment has changed in ways that pose significant challenges to the conduct of monetary policy. sustained demographic shifts, global excess savings and a slowdown in productivity growth have all contributed to a secular decline in the real equilibrium rate of interest over the last 20 years in most advanced economies, though estimates are fraught with a considerable degree of uncertainty ( chart 1 ). central banks have responded in different ways to the fall in equilibrium rates. as the global financial crisis broke and conventional policy space was exhausted, most central banks resorted to forward guidance as a means to provide additional accommodation. some started purchasing government bonds and other

caleb m fundanga : improved financial services in zambia speech by dr caleb m fundanga, governor of the bank of zambia, at the official opening of the barclays bank zambia plc, chilenje branch, chilenje, 9 january 2008. * * * • mr fritz seegers – barclays global retail and commercial banking chiefexecutive • mr j j sikazwe – barclays bank zambia plc chairman • mr ahmed khan – barclays grcb emerging markets chief executive officer • mr michael miebach – barclays sub - sahara africa managing director • mr zafar masud – incoming barclays bank zambia managing director • mr danie nel – outgoing barclays bank zambia managing director • invited guests • ladies and gentlemen i am delighted to be the guest of honour at the official opening of the barclays bank zambia plc chilenje branch. my appreciation of this opening is because it reflects a fundamental change in strategy by barclays bank zambia over the last few years. i recall that only a few years ago, barclays bank zambia closed a number of its branches in several towns and locations. we were greatly concerned because it meant that even the few that were serviced by commercial banks would have greater problems in accessing financial services. barclays bank zambia obviously had its reasons for taking such an action and we cannot fault them for attempting to curb their costs. however, it is now evident that there is a turnaround in the situation. i am reliably informed that the number of branches has increased from 17 at the beginning of april last year to 55 at the end of november 2007. what is even more impressive is that these branches are found in areas which were previously not serviced by commercial banks. this indeed is a bold move and for this we must commend barclays bank zambia. i am aware that the expansion programme is backed by a capital injection of approximately k40. 0 billion which will make it possible for barclays bank zambia to increase its services in the country, particularly to the smes sector. ladies and gentlemen, the 2005 finscope survey undertaken by finmark trust confirmed that levels of access to financial services in zambia are low. fewer than 15 % of adult zambians are reported to have had access to commercial banks. the reasons given for this low accessibility varied but some of the critical reasons included the distance to banks, the time spent getting to a bank and the cost of getting a bank service. with barclays bank zambia opening branches closer to the