Russia’s unjustified war of aggression on Ukraine continues to cast a shadow over Europe. My thoughts are with the Ukrainian people suffering the senseless atrocities of the war. The economic consequences for the euro area have continued to unfold since we last met in June and the outlook is darkening.
Inflation remains far too high and is likely to stay above our target for an extended period. At our meeting earlier this month, the Governing Council therefore took the major step to frontload the transition from the prevailing highly accommodative level of policy rates towards levels that will ensure the timely return of inflation to our two per cent medium-term target.