Of course, there are a number of upside and downside risks to the Bank's base-case projection for inflation. But overall, we judge these risks to be roughly balanced. On 4 December and on 22 January, the Bank lowered its target for the overnight rate by onequarter of one percentage point, bringing it to 4 per cent.
Further monetary stimulus is likely to be required in the near term to keep aggregate supply and demand in balance, and to return inflation to target over the medium term. BIS Review 9/2008  1