But the monetary accommodation generated by the decline in riskfree rates has only slightly eased the tightening in financial conditions caused by the decline in stock prices and the increase in euro area sovereign and corporate bond yields.
With regard to price developments, euro area annual HICP inflation was 0.9% in February 2010, according to Eurostat’s flash estimate, after 1.0% in January. Inflation is expected to be around 1% in the near term and to remain moderate over the policy-relevant horizon.