potential shutdown in the availability of credit, which would have made the current economic crisis even more severe. although functioning in financial markets has improved since march, the federal reserve has indicated that it will continue to increase asset holdings to sustain smooth market functioning, thereby fostering effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions. 9 in addition to stabilizing financial markets, the federal reserve has instituted a number of programs to support the flow of credit to households, businesses, and state and local governments. these actions will enable them to continue to do their work, both now and when normal life resumes. 10 taken together, these programs have helped restore the functioning of financial markets, foster favorable financial conditions, and support the continued flow of credit to businesses and households. conclusion i'll conclude with this : this pandemic and this recession form a pivotal moment for the federal reserve. we are seeing signs that the economy has started to recover. still, the economic outlook remains highly uncertain and it's going to take considerable time to restore the economy to its full potential. but rest assured, we are committed to using our full range of tools to support the economy and bring about a full and robust recovery. 1 covid - 19 dashboard by the center for systems science and engineering at johns hopkins university, accessed june 29, 2020. 2 the impact on lower - wage workers is analyzed in cajner, tomaz, l. d. crane, r. a. decker, j. grigsby, a. hamins - puertolas, e. hurst, c. kurz, and a yildirmaz., 2020. “ the u. s. labor market during the beginning of the pandemic recession. ” becker friedman institute, university of chicago, working paper, no. 2020 – 58 ( june ). 3 u. s. census bureau and department of housing and urban development, monthly new residential construction, may 2020, june 17, 2020. 4 an example at the new york fed is the bi - weekly publication of the weekly economic index. 5 empire state manufacturing survey, federal reserve bank of new york, june 2020 ; business leaders survey, federal reserve bank of new york, june 2020. the data on small business revenue come from womply, a software - as - a - service provider focused on customer relationship management. 6 see board of governors of the federal reserve system, federal reserve issues fomc statement, march 3, 2020 ; and board

built around savings accounts will sooner or later reach its limits. it becomes apparent that investors can benefit from diversifying their savings through greater capital market exposure – i assume that the savings banks are advising their customers accordingly. and as for monetary policy, you can take my word that the bundesbank, as a member of the eurosystem, will push for interest rate hikes and an exit from the non - standard monetary policy measures as soon as the objective of price stability makes this necessary. but that point in time is still some way off. in fact, we will have to get used to the idea that low interest rates will be with us for a while yet, or, to use the ecb governing council ’ s exact words, for an “ extended period of time ”. what ’ s more, the extensive government bond - buying programme will be kicking off shortly, putting more pressure on the german yield curve – that will present quite a challenge for domestic institutions engaged in maturity transformation. so the big question facing savings banks and other credit institutions right now is how they can overcome the challenge posed by low interest rates, and how they intend to go about it. i would urge you to take a sober view of the interest rate situation – not with a sense of anxiety, just realistically. it ’ s obvious that net interest income will generally continue to diminish – the bundesbank ’ s analyses and projections point quite clearly in that direction, and all of you here today know that just as well as i do, if not better. while it is true that the vast majority of savings banks are comfortably capitalised and their internal capital adequacy is sound, some of them have aligned their business strategies with the prospect of interest rates climbing again relatively quickly. so i would urge you not to think purely in terms of where you stand right now, which for many of you may still appear comfortable. a strategy can ’ t be to live off ever - diminishing resources – even if the savings banks ’ resources can see them through a spell of low interest rates. so i would reiterate my urgent appeal to you – consider your earnings situation realistically, from a dynamic angle. because there ’ s barely any prospect of interest rates picking up again in the medium term. so the question is this – how can savings banks and other credit institutions generate a sustained flow of stable earnings under these circumstances as well? there ’ s no straightforward answer to that question. the answer is most