Finally, consumer prices have been rising over the past months, and although the increase has slowed down somewhat of late, current inflation stands at 2.5% – clearly above the Eurosystem’s 2% definition of price stability. To prevent second-round effects and to ensure that inflation expectations remain firmly anchored, the Eurosystem has raised interest rates twice this year.
3  Challenges in the euro area  The major risk for the euro area is probably the uncertainty resulting from the debt crisis in Greece and some other member states. However, in mid-July, policymakers agreed on an all-encompassing package to stabilise the situation.