In the light of past experience, it is clear that the announcement of the quantitative definition of price stability was an extremely valuable element of the ECB’s strategy. First, the ECB’s definition of price stability has been instrumental in enhancing the transparency of the policy framework and thereby the accountability of the ECB.
2  BIS Review 52/2003  The anchoring of long-term inflation expectations Second, with its quantitative definition the ECB has made a very significant contribution to the firm anchoring of inflation expectations. The definition of price stability permits all economic agents and the public at large to build expectations of future inflation outcomes.