SPEECH  The risks of stubborn inflation Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Euro50 Group conference on “New challenges for the Economic and Monetary Union in the post-crisis environment” Luxembourg, 19 June 2023 The ECB has taken forceful action in response to the unprecedented surge in euro area inflation.
In contrast, inflation rates in countries with independent central banks focused on delivering price stability were comparatively low in these years. While average inflation in Germany stood at 3.4%, it reached 8.2% in France, 12.5 % in Italy and 12.4% in Spain. The important point here is that lower inflation did not come at the expense of lower growth.