Against this background, we decided to end net asset purchases by December 2018. At the same time, we moved back to using our policy interest rates and the forward guidance on their likely future path as the principal tool for preserving the ample degree of policy accommodation that was still needed.
As a result, we enhanced our forward guidance on policy rates, adding an explicit date-based component to the state-contingent component. This anchors interest rate expectations more firmly. In particular, the combination of the two components reflected our commitment to provide the accommodation needed to deliver on our mandate of price stability.