They are partly embedded in the Maastricht Treaty (in terms of: single mandate, political independence, prohibition of monetary financing) and in our operational framework. Also in a “new normal” environment we will continue to do everything to deliver what we have delivered so far which is, according to our mandate, price stability over the medium term.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that monetary policy alone cannot turn this economy around. As yesterday’s GDP figures reminded us, the supply-side of this economy is in deep trouble. We experienced a technical recession in the second half of the year, and growth for 2019 as a whole was just 0.2%, the worst rate since the Global Financial Crisis.