With our forward guidance we also want to stabilise expectations at the short end. Forward guidance can help reduce uncertainty about future developments in policy rates and can thus also have a stabilising effect on longer-term interest rates. Cœuré: I would like to add another reason: We need a functioning market at the long end of the curve.
One of the issues that we have been facing before the crisis was lack of price discrimination in the bond markets, both for private and public issuers. Market discipline had de facto disappeared. That has not served the euro area well.