It was mainly stock prices that were affected; interest rates have been fairly stable overall – except in Italy. Euro area inflation has risen recently, so many people – especially in Germany – are asking why the ECB is sticking to its accommodative monetary policy. Our mandate is to safeguard sustainable price stability in the euro area.
This means that the rate of inflation must reach our aim of below, but close to, 2% in a sustained manner. At the moment, the increase is mainly related to the higher oil price. Core inflation, which excludes energy and food prices, has for some time been around 1%, sometimes even lower, and that’s not enough to reach our aim in a sustained manner.