The paper analyses the challenges faced by the European Central Bank since the outbreak of the global financial crisis and surveys the many studies by economists at Banca d’Italia on the causes of the low inflation environment in 2014 and on the effects of the ECB's asset purchase programme on financial markets and the real economy. These studies have provided an important contribution in supporting Banca d'Italia's participation in the monetary policy making of the European Central Bank.
Between 2008 and 2014, monetary policy measures preserved the correct functioning of the transmission mechanism and helped support the supply of credit to the private sector. The asset purchase programme launched in early 2015 has been effective in combating the risk of deflation by exerting a positive impact on economic activity and inflation in the euro area.
Published in 2018 in: Credit and Capital Markets, v. 51, 4, pp. 513-560
