Bank credit extension to the private sector is also relatively subdued, with total loans and advances growing by 4 per cent since September 2010, house prices are either declining or growing at low nominal rates, while equity prices will most likely also have a moderating impact on wealth effects and consumption.
2  Also specified in the Federal Reserve's legislative mandate is the goal of moderate long-term interest rates, but this goal is generally viewed as consistent with the dual mandate because long-term interest rates can remain low only in a stable macroeconomic environment; further discussion of this topic is in Mishkin (2007a,d).