Zero/near-zero interest-rate policy
Updated
What it is
Zero interest-rate policy (ZIRP) means a central bank holding its short-term rate at or near zero, usually alongside large bond purchases, to flood the economy with cheap money. The Fed did this from December 2008 and again from March 2020.
Why it matters lately
ZIRP is now the regime the world is moving away from. The Fed hiked to 3.75–4.00 percent on September 16, 2026, and the Bank of Japan raised its rate to 1.25 percent on September 18, 2026, the highest since 1995. It ended negative rates only in March 2024.
Asymmetric Analytics view
Inference (AA): It is the graph's reference regime for maximum liquidity, against which the current tightening is compared.