Food price inflation also rose in August, (to 10.6 per cent), reflecting higher input costs related to energy, disruptions of trade in food commodities, and adverse weather conditions. While supply bottlenecks have been easing, these continue to gradually feed through to consumer prices and are putting further upward pressure on inflation, as is recovering demand in the services sector. The depreciation of the euro has also contributed to the rising inflationary pressures, together with the aforementioned supply and demand factors. Governing Council latest meeting decision In response to these developments, in our latest meeting, the Governing Council of the ECB decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 75 basis points. This significant step frontloads the transition from the prevailing accommodative level of policy rates towards levels that will enable the timely return of inflation to our two per cent medium-term target. Undeniably, the key current challenge for the ECB as well as other major central banks is raising interest rates to deal with inflation while recession risk is high. However, the risk of high inflation becoming entrenched in inflation expectations is a greater threat. The longer inflation remains elevated, the more harm it will cause to individuals and companies. While monetary policy will act decisively to restore inflation to our target, fiscal policy must be targeted in order not to counteract monetary policy and safeguard the most vulnerable people's incomes. Domestic economic developments Let me now turn to domestic economic developments.
Jean-Pierre Roth: Life in a two-headed monetary system - the Swiss experience Speech by Mr Jean-Pierre Roth, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the 50th Anniversary of the Bank of Israel, Jerusalem, 29 November 2004. * 1. *  *  Introduction  It is almost a common-place to state that the birth of the euro on January 1, 1999 was a milestone in the process of European integration. Giving up national sovereignty in monetary matters was without doubt a very bold move of historical proportions. It will have long lasting economic and political consequences. It is meant to promote efficiency, transparency, and growth. The creation of a single currency should also act as catalyst towards further European integration. Moreover, and this is really what I would like to focus on today, the creation of the euro has changed the world’s monetary landscape. I believe that one can say without fear of exaggeration that it has led to a new international monetary order. Countries such as Israel and Switzerland, situated on the periphery of the euro area, are affected as well. I would like to share with you some of our experiences in this regard, and I would be very interested to know to what extent these findings apply to your country too. 2. Our pre-euro worries  Quite frankly, my colleagues and I at the Swiss National Bank were somewhat worried before the introduction of the euro.