And while large advanced economies were expanding their unconventional policies, central banks in many emerging market economies lowered their target policy rates, in some cases reducing them to their 2009 levels. As global financing conditions eased further, private credit continued to grow at a rapid pace in some countries, lending standards weakened, equity prices reached record highs worldwide, long-term yields hit record lows and credit spreads compressed. Even highly leveraged firms could borrow at long-term rates far below the rates they had to pay before the crisis.[...]