Recent ECB staff analysis indicates that the effects of monetary policy tightening on real activity and inflation can be expected to strengthen in the coming years, but our assessment is surrounded by significant uncertainty.1 Our future decisions will ensure that the policy rates will be brought to levels sufficiently restrictive to achieve a timely return of inflation to our 2% medium-term target and will be kept at those levels for as long as necessary.
We will continue to follow a datadependent approach to determining the appropriate level and duration of restriction. In particular, our policy rate decisions will continue to be based on our assessment of the inflation outlook in the light of the incoming economic and financial data, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission.