4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  We are mindful of financial stability considerations, but our primary mandate remains price stability. As regards the figure of 2%, there is not much point in thinking about this when inflation is at 0.2%. We should concentrate first of all on bringing inflation back towards 2%. But that is precisely the point.
Some people in Germany believe that price stability is not 2% inflation, but rather 0% inflation. Price stability does not mean 0% inflation. When inflation is measured at 0%, the actual rate of inflation is less than 0%, as there is a tendency to overestimate the rate of inflation by underestimating the underlying adjustments in the quality of goods and services.