In addition, the European Central Bank is obliged to support the general economic policies of the Community, but this task is clearly of secondary nature, since it is stated in the EC Treaty that the ECB shall do so ‘without prejudice to the objective of price stability’. In practice, therefore, the burden of adjustment will fall on budgetary policies.
In my view, this was a correct decision, since for the reasons stated earlier, monetary policy should not be geared to short-term goals, like stabilising the business cycle. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that monetary and fiscal policy are interdependent. This notion is clearly reflected in the Treaty.