Yet open-market operations are highly effective in changing interest rates.
The investments were ultra-safe, and since they had short-term maturities there was little risk from changing interest rates.
In recent years, monetary policy, which works by changing interest rates, has superseded fiscal policy as the favored tool for jump-starting the economy.
Those markets allow companies to bet on — or, if you prefer, hedge themselves against losses from — changing interest rates and commodity prices.
Alan Clarke, an economist at Scotiabank, said there is a mood of caution in the City after the Bank confounded many analysts by not changing interest rates in July.
Two days of talks in Brussels ended with public concessions that the idea of "reprofiling" Greek debt, or voluntarily extending maturities without changing interest rates or the amount of the loan, was being contemplated, at least as a last resort.
Buffeted by changing interest rates, rising supply and a slowing economy, property prices have seesawed over the past two years, and policy makers are engaged in a delicate balancing act aimed at cooling the sector without crushing it.
The index has also become more important in pricing financial contracts, known as swaps, that municipalities enter into with banks to manage the risks associated with changing interest rates.
Since it takes several months for the full effects of changing interest rates to be felt in the economy, it can be dangerous to wait until there is actual evidence of accelerating prices.
"When the monetary policy committee meets next week to decide on interest rates, we would call on them to do everything possible to consider the implications of changing interest rates for smaller firms and the self-employed looking to maintain or grow their business," said Cherry.
