Looking forward, restoration of the banking system to full health and effective de-leveraging of corporate sector balance sheets are essential steps in unclogging the wheels of the transmission mechanism and improving the effectiveness of
monetary policy. At the same time, retail rates that are more sensitive to money market conditions would remove an important impediment in the financial system. Moreover, as households diversify their portfolios more towards bonds and equities, the asset price channel of monetary transmission should strengthen as wealth effects become more important. Finally, if the composition of bank lending changes, the incidence of monetary policy is likely to change as well. Should recent trends continue, policyinduced changes in bank loan rates are less likely to affect large corporations and more likely to influence consumers.