For the remainder of this year, annual HICP inflation rates are expected to fluctuate around the current level of 2%, the rate recently estimated by Eurostat for June. In early 2004 a significant base effect related to energy prices should lead to a marked fall in annual HICP inflation rates, assuming broadly unchanged oil prices and exchange rates.
The Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union, which has now become part of the Treaty establishing the European Community) assigns to the single monetary policy the primary objective of maintaining price stability in the euro area.