It would also help mitigate the rise in the debt-to-income ratio by reducing the drop in income, although debt levels could rise at the margin. 4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  We knew that financial markets would be surprised by the move in January, and we generally prefer to avoid surprises. But we will do what is necessary to fulfill our inflationtargeting mandate.
Over the following weeks, we saw inflation decline as expected, and output expand in line with our projection. We saw financial conditions ease, and oil prices stabilize in a range reasonably close to our January projection. This made us feel increasingly comfortable with the amount of insurance we had already taken out, which led to the decision to keep rates unchanged earlier this month.