The North's First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have met the heads of the four main banks in Northern Ireland to discuss the economic downturn.
Along with Finance Minister Nigel Dodds and Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster, they urged the banks to pass on interest rate cuts to customers.
Beforehand, Mr Robinson said the banks had a role to play in easing the credit crunch on households.
After the hour-long meeting, Mr McGuinness said the Executive wanted to see an important change in the relations between banks and customers. He said the banks were now under no illusions where the Ministers were coming from.
Mr McGuinness said the prime concern was for people paying mortgages and for small and medium-sized businesses.
The banks said that the rate cuts had in large measure been passed on to customers. But they also had savers to consider. Ulster Bank group chief executive Cormac McCarthy said quite significant reductions in rates were passed on in recent months. He said it was a constructive and positive meeting.
