That decision was taken because of new downside risks which threatened the outlook for price stability. Those risks were largely linked to external factors, and ones which might not be temporary. With inflation already low for some time, we saw a danger that a continued period of low inflation – even if oil-driven – might destabilise inflation expectations and become persistent.
But suppose we were on track to achieve a single market. Should we then be thinking of a monetary union as well? The response to this, which I have set out in earlier speeches, is that it depends, to an important extent, on how close or how far apart are the industrial structures of the two countries.