The unique feature in the policy commitment last October is that an explicit macroprudential condition is attached to the commitment, that is to say, the bank will continue the virtually zero interest rate policy “on condition that no problem is identified in examining risk factors, including the accumulation of financial imbalances”.
I'd like to begin by briefly outlining those prospects. You will notice that the theme of uncertainty is a leitmotif running throughout my remarks. 2 Economic activity and inflation  1/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  Germany's economy was still in good shape going into the summer. Economic output was almost back at its pre-pandemic level in the second quarter.