But there are good reasons not to be so pessimistic, also because of our policy actions. What economic developments do you expect to see? Our expectation is that we are currently going through a patch of temporary weakness. Inflation is below our aim, but there is no danger of deflation, meaning a general fall in price levels.
So why did you loosen monetary policy at all in September? Couldn’t you just have waited for the soft patch to pass? Projected inflation for 2021 stood at 1.8% in December 2018. But in March this year the ECB had to revise its outlook for growth and inflation significantly downwards, and in September projected inflation was revised down again to 1.5%.