Inflation rates have been very low for some time now in many currency areas, and the euro area is no exception. Here, inflation is even in negative territory; in May, prices were down by 0.1 % on the year. In the past two years, it was mainly the sharp fall in commodity prices, particularly oil prices, which pushed inflation down.
Background I believe focusing on risk management today is certainly topical, given some of the risk management challenges that financial institutions have faced over the past year. Recent market events have shown that a number of institutions have not maintained satisfactory risk management practices; however, we also can point to many examples of sound risk management practices during the recent disruptions.