Introduction

Abstract

The debate on the monetary transmission process has not only continued in the past few years but has also intensified. There are a number of reasons for this. In academic circles there are still various different approaches that seek to explain how monetary policy influences an economy. More and more areas have come to be included in the analysis which attracted less attention in the past. Thus, nowadays — on the basis of an improved microeconomic theory — more attention is being paid to the role of financial intermediaries and financial systems in general than was previously the case.