Our monetary policy measures have made a very substantial contribution to the positive economic developments in the euro area. If we consider all the policy measures taken since mid2014, our staff estimates show that the overall impact on euro area real GDP growth and euro area inflation is – in both cases – around 1.9 percentage points cumulatively between 2016 and 2020.
Importance of central bank communication Let me now turn to the topic of central bank communication that you suggested for today’s meeting. Regarding this topic, forward guidance has indeed become an important instrument for all major central banks as conventional monetary tools have reached their effective lower bound, and the ECB is no exception.