A man walks past the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on January 29, 2016, the day Haruhiko Kuroda, the central bank governor, surprised investors by adopting a negative interest rate strategy to spur banks to lend in the face of a weakening economy. Photo:Bloomberg
Opinion
Opinion
Advanced economies swallowing negative interest rates with glee must remember this is not a cure for depression
- Negative interest rates have not encouraged spending and have fuelled inequality. Instead of relying on central bankers to tweak monetary policy, governments must initiate structural reforms. However, with a global slowdown in the offing, this is unlikely to happen
A man walks past the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on January 29, 2016, the day Haruhiko Kuroda, the central bank governor, surprised investors by adopting a negative interest rate strategy to spur banks to lend in the face of a weakening economy. Photo:Bloomberg