That would not be a serious problem if we saw low inflation only for one or two months, but it becomes worrisome if there is a risk of too low inflation for too long. In that scenario, it can start to affect people’s expectations of future inflation, which then makes low inflation self-fulfilling.
In line with our mandate, the ECB has therefore made full use of its conventional tools – interest rate cuts – to ward off these risks to price stability and keep inflation expectations anchored to our objective.