Nevertheless, risks to the medium term outlook for inflation which are so far still broadly balanced could well move to the upside. Thus, price developments have to be monitored very closely.
In spite of the favourable economic outlook, the financial and economic crisis is not over yet, and even though Germany fared much better during the crisis than many other advanced economies, the welfare losses have been huge. Thus, one of our top concerns must be to ensure that measures are taken to prevent the occurrence of another crisis of this scale.