It is remarkable that even amidst such adverse and potentially unsettling disturbances, financial markets and the public at large  4  BIS Review 52/2008  have not lost faith that, in line with our strategy, we would reaffirm price stability over the medium term. Amidst turbulent circumstances, the ECB has purposely chosen to communicate and enact a sense of direction.
While the growth rate for industrial production fell up to November 1998, retail sales figures and consumer confidence have recently shown positive trends. Furthermore, growth in real gross domestic product in the euro area was relatively robust in the third quarter of 1998. In the United States real growth in the fourth quarter actually turned out higher than expected.