What Are the Effects of the ECB’s Negative Interest Rate Policy?

Several central banks, including the European Central Bank since 2014, have added negative policy rates to their toolboxes after exhausting conventional easing measures. It is essential to understand the effects on the economy of prolonged negative rates. This paper explores the potential effects (and side effects) of negative rates in theory and examines the evidence to determine what these effects have been in practice in the euro area. This paper was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) ahead of the Monetary Dialogue with the ECB President on 21 June 2021.