Interest rates are still at very low levels in both nominal and real terms. Short-term real interest rates (such as the three-month EURIBOR deflated by current HICP inflation) have increased to reach positive levels over the past few months, but remain close to their lowest levels in decades. Our monetary policy thus remains accommodative.
As I said in my last press conference, to safeguard the successes of the past, the Governing Council is in a position of strong vigilance to ensure that risks to price stability do not materialise, thereby making an ongoing contribution to sustainable economic growth and job creation in the euro area.