1/8  BIS central bankers' speeches  Because the euro area is a net importer of energy, this surge in inflation is often referred to as “imported inflation” – in other words, inflation over which monetary policy has no, or very little, control.
In this context, comparisons are often made with the United States, where energy is making a smaller contribution to headline inflation, suggesting that price pressures are predominately a result of domestic forces. And indeed, there is currently a large gap between the euro area and the United States when looking at measures of inflation that exclude energy and food (Slide 3, left-hand side).