At the same time, the framework sets limits of what monetary policy must not do and pursue – in particular prohibiting monetary financing of governments. Acting within this framework, our measures taken over the last years have shown that we are not short of instruments: the scope of monetary policy instruments is wide and flexible enough to effectively fulfil our mandate.
Acting within this framework also ensures that we do not encroach upon the area of economic policy. This constraint has recently been confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the OMT case. Objective and instruments The ECB’s objective is to ensure price stability in the medium term. The standard instruments that the ECB deploy are its key interest rates.