2.2  Oil prices  Since June 2014, oil prices have declined by more than 70%, after having stabilised above $ per barrel for four years and, more generally, after rising almost continuously since early 2000. By January 2016, oil prices traded around $ per barrel, a level not seen in the past 12 years (see Figure 7 below).
For the moment, higher headline rates of inflation have shown only a few tentative signs of embedding themselves in core inflation or in longer-term inflation expectations. However,  BIS Review 82/2008  5  policymakers around the world must monitor the situation carefully for signs that the increases in relative prices globally do not generate persistently higher inflation.