Where banks pay interest to borrowers and charge depositors

Hvidore, Denmark

AT first, Eva Christiansen barely noticed the number. Her bank called to say that Ms Christiansen, a 36-year-old entrepreneur here, had been approved for a small-business loan. She whooped. She danced. A friend took pictures.

"I think I was so happy I got the loan, I didn't hear everything he said," she recalled.

And then she was told again about her interest rate. It was minus 0.0172 per cent - less than zero. While there would be fees to pay, the bank would also pay interest to her. It was just a little over US$1 a month. But still.

These are strange times for European borrowers, as if a wormhole has opened up to a parallel universe where the usual rules of financial gravity are suspended. Investors lent Germany nearly US$4 billion last week, knowin…