In BIS Review 1/1998  -3-  this sense, the choice of a specific, sometimes arbitrary, definition of real output and hence of price by government statisticians is essentially a descriptive issue, and not one that directly affects firms’ investment decisions. This is an illustration of where even individual price measurement probably is not always of direct and fundamental importance for private sector behavior.
What is more significant for the value of the euro and the credibility of the ECB’s single monetary policy is that long-term inflation expectations clearly suggest that financial markets are confident that price stability will be maintained in the euro area over the long run.