There was also very broad agreement with the extent of the recalibration, which was based on technical work carried out by the staff of the whole Eurosystem in our committees. The analysis we did before the inception of our asset purchases, and the evidence accumulated since, give us confidence that the additional measures announced yesterday provide material upward pressure on price dynamics to reach our objective as initially intended. Arguably, the only difference between our current situation and a more traditional situation is that our monetary policy stance is not determined primarily on the basis of just one tool – interest rates – but on the basis of an array of tools, which include also the pace of asset purchases, and forward guidance on both interest rates and asset purchases. But similar to the times when we steered policy primarily through interest rates, we are continuously monitoring economic and financing conditions, on which our policy action is always conditional. If these developments change in directions that make it necessary to respond again, we are of course ready at any time to adjust this array of tools to secure the return of inflation to our objective without undue delay. There is no particular limit to how we can deploy any of our tools. And in this context it is important to recall that we operate under a clear framework of monetary dominance – we are ultimately driven by our mandate of maintaining price stability.
I would like to elaborate on the Eurosystem’s contribution to enhanced disclosure through its initiative to make loan-by-loan level data on ABS transactions widely available. Let me say from the start that this initiative alone will not suffice to re-open the market, but it would become an important building block along the path towards standardisation, simpler structures, and better post trade price transparency. As you will remember, in December 2009 the ECB launched a public consultation in order to gather market and public feedback on a proposal to introduce requirements on loan level data in ABS transactions and make this an explicit eligibility criterion, should the ABS be used as collateral with the Eurosystem. This initiative may trigger a structural change in the way the different market participants interact within the securitisation markets. By increasing the transparency, availability and quality of the information on the underlying assets, and by ensuring a regular updating of the information, market participants will have a sounder base on which to build valuation, risk and surveillance models. The public consultation included six questions on the general advisability of the initiative as well as on technical details of the implementation. At the end of the consultation period on 26 February 2010, 53 responses from different investors, market data vendors, credit rating agencies, financial service providers, audit firms, stock exchanges, law firms, public authorities, and central securities depositaries, had been received.