Several institutional provisions enshrined in the Treaty as well as strategic  1  See J.-C. Trichet, " Monetary Policy and Private Expectations”, Zolotas Lecture at the Bank of Greece, Athens, 25 February 2005. 2  BIS Review 49/2005  decisions of the Governing Council of the ECB have been necessary preconditions for a credible monetary policy and a successful anchoring of inflation expectations.
With regard to the key institutional provisions, the ECB has been given a clear mandate, namely to pursue the primary objective of maintaining price stability, and its independence is fully guaranteed by the Treaty. Furthermore, rules for pursuing sound fiscal policies are enshrined in the Treaty in the form of the Maastricht criteria; the Stability and Growth Pact implements these principles via regulations.