Patience has its virtue but must not be confused with inaction, the BoI has been patient with inflation to return, but quite active to ensure that the crucial broader environment of price stability remains intact. Inflation expectations of the medium and longer term are still well anchored within the target range bestowing credibility to the monetary policy.
To conclude in the spirit of this forward looking conference, I would draw 3 points from the recent Israeli experience. First, protracted periods of below target inflation do not entail an automatic loss of monetary policy credibility.