Allow me to briefly illustrate this point. Our single, clear and unambiguous mandate has ensured that attention has remained focused on the attainment of our objective of maintaining price stability, at a time when other considerations could have come to the fore. At the same time, our monetary policy strategy has ensured that the appropriate mediumterm orientation of monetary policy has been maintained.
In particular, the monetary pillar embedded in our strategy ensures that due attention is paid at all times to medium-term developments in nominal variables. The identification of the policy-relevant signal in monetary developments requires a detailed examination of bank balance sheets, complemented by the analysis of other sources of financial information.