With respect to the Federal Reserve’s remittances, balance sheet operations are intended to support economic growth and job creation in a context of price stability and not to maximize Federal Reserve income.
But the nature of the inflation challenge in the euro area is changing. We are seeing a decline in the inflation rate as the shocks that originally drove up inflation wane and our monetary policy actions are transmitted to the economy. But the pass-through of those shocks is still ongoing, making the decline in inflation slower and the inflation process more persistent.