IMF economists mount defence of negative interest rates despite controversy

Tokyo

THE introduction of negative interest rates some two years ago by the European Central Bank or ECB (and then by the Bank of Japan and the National Bank of Switzerland) has been an overall "success" despite the controversy it has generated, International Monetary Fund (IMF) economists said on Thursday.

In a blog published by the IMF, economists Andy Jobst and Huidan Lin acknowledge, however, that negative rates have caused problems for banks, and they suggest that the ECB at least might need to rely on other forms of monetary easing rather than push rates further into negative territory.