At the present time, the debate is over the extent of that slowing – whether it will be enough to take the pressure off prices, or whether it might in fact be too great, resulting in unduly weak economic activity. Observers have had a hard time this year deciding which of these problems was the larger concern.
These can include a range of instruments outside the toolbox of the Central Bank, including tax policy, but they can also include such central banking and regulatory tools as capital adequacy surcharges, loan-to-value (LTV) and loan-to-income (LTI) caps for residential mortgages. The last two-mentioned instruments are not governed by EU law and are a matter for local discretion.