To sum up, the ECB’s monetary policy of maintaining price stability can affect expectations of market participants about future price developments when it succeeds in achieving a necessary degree of credibility. The continuous low inflation expectations reflect that the ECB has been successful in its task, and has created the basis for low long-term interest rates.
These have had significant positive effects on the government budget in many countries and have stimulated investment. Stabilising expectations has also shown to be beneficial for the ECB itself, since it enhances the predictability of  2  BIS Review 33/2002  the conditional relationships between major macroeconomic variables and diminishes the uncertainties involved in the conduct of monetary policy.