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There are currently five countries or regions in the negative rate club, and Citigroup expects more will join the fray. Perhaps even Canada.

With the European Central Bank cutting its deposit rate by 10 basis points to negative 0.4 per cent last week, it cemented its place in the group alongside Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Japan.

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The economic benefit of looser monetary policy eventually runs out of steam, and recent data supports the notion that things are fading. Yet Citigroup analysts insist that it is too early to declare that negative interest rates aren’t still helping.



“When negative rates success in weakening currencies, they tend to boost equity markets,” said Robert Buckland, a London-based currency strategist.

The problem, however, is that the most recent round of negative rate moves by both the ECB and Bank of Japan haven’t driven down their currencies or boosted stocks.