After the experience of the last year, I am confident that the monetary policy strategy adopted by the ECB Governing Council a year ago – and the monetary policy decisions that have been based on it during the last nine and a half months – serve the fulfilment of this objective. BIS Review 112/1999  6
As we had for some time tied the horizon for our rate path to the end of our net purchases – giving indications that interest rates will remain at their present levels “well past the end of our net purchases” – announcing a conditional plan for terminating net purchases by a certain date made it necessary for us to re-anchor the rate guidance.