In addition, protectionist tendencies are giving rise to considerable concern. It was against this background that the Governing Council reduced the key ECB interest rates by another 50 basis points in early March. This took the overall reduction in our key rates to 275 basis points since October of last year.
Overall, we expect price stability to be  BIS Review 40/2009  1  maintained over the medium term. We will continue to deliver on our mandate and ensure the firm anchoring of inflation expectations over longer-term horizons. Such anchoring supports sustainable growth and employment and also contributes to financial stability.