3  See Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (2012), “Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement,” press release, September 13. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Moreover, it seems plausible that households’ spending behavior will in fact be more strongly affected by changes in the mortgage rate.
While financial market volatility appears to have contributed to a decline in euro area consumer and business confidence indicators in September, these indicators remain above their historical averages and continue to point to ongoing sustained growth during the second half of 2007. Looking further ahead, available forecasts for 2008 continue to confirm our main scenario of real GDP growing at around trend potential.