Third, as for import prices, while the recent depreciation of the yen will exert upward pressure on consumer prices, a decline in international commodity prices, including crude oil prices, will exert downward pressure on consumer prices.
In the euro area, following the end of its net asset purchases, the ECB Governing Council started increasing its key interest rates, by 2 percentage points overall since July, thus bringing the deposit facility rate back from negative values to 1.5 per cent.