ECB technically prepared for negative deposit rates

Central bank may still shun the policy as it could unfairly punish some banks

Euro sign, Frankfurt

The European Central Bank (ECB) is technically prepared to cut its deposit rate to less than zero, but this does not mean that it should, according to Henner Asche, deputy head of markets at the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Asche told an audience at the National Asset-Liability Management Europe conference in London that the ECB had started preparing for a negative deposit rate "some time ago".

Both the central bank and the commercial banks in the region had to adjust their IT systems. "This has been

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