Together, these factors imply that the small amount of excess demand now in the economy will be eliminated by mid-2007. Core inflation is expected to remain a bit above 2 per cent in the coming months but return to the 2 per cent target by the middle of 2007 and remain there through to the end of 2008.
Financial integration is particularly relevant to the four basic tasks of the ECB. It is of vital importance for the conduct of the single monetary policy, since a well-integrated financial  3  In general, financial integration facilitates a better functioning of the financial systems.