As a result, the ECB has a clearer and more credible inflation target, since this 2% target eliminates the possible impression of asymmetry that could stem from the previous target (“below, but close, to 2%”) and seeks to provide a clear anchor for inflation expectations. As I will highlight later on in my talk, this definition also confirms the medium-term orientation of monetary policy that already existed under the previous strategy. This medium-term orientation provides room for inevitable short-term deviations of inflation from the target, as well as for lags and uncertainty in the transmission of monetary policy. Moreover, the flexibility embedded in this medium-term orientation also allows for an appropriate monetary 5  policy response to inflation deviations from the target that takes into account the origin, scale and persistence of the underlying shocks to inflation. Second, the ECB has taken into account the monetary policy implications of the lower bound on interest rates. In particular, the new strategy establishes a requirement for especially forceful or persistent monetary measures when the economy is close to the effective lower bound, in order to prevent negative deviations from the inflation target from becoming entrenched. This may also imply a transitory period of overshooting in which inflation is moderately above target. I will also refer to this key aspect of the new strategy in the third part of my talk today. And third, the ECB has made explicit that the set of policy rates remains its primary monetary policy instrument.
I am well aware that both functional authority and tools lie beyond the Riksbank’s remit, but as household debt and problems on the housing market affect the way the economy works, this development is also a source of unease for the Riksbank. Housing prices have been rising for a long time To begin with, I would like to say a few words on how housing prices have developed in Sweden. Since 2005, they have more than doubled, but the price rise started before then. The fact that housing prices have risen so rapidly for such a long period of time and are now historically high can be explained by factors such as the imbalance between supply and demand for housing, rising real wages and lower taxes, which have increased households’ disposable incomes. 8 Housing prices fell in the autumn of 2017, but have since then recovered slightly. The fall in prices has also affected housing construction, which, after increasing strongly in recent years, slowed down again in 2018 and 2019. Over time, the development of housing prices has contributed towards increasing household indebtedness, even if the slightly weaker development in recent years has contributed towards lending for household mortgages now increasing more slowly than previously. All in all, this has led to household debt as a proportion of disposable income (the debt-to-income ratio) staying relatively unchanged over the last year, but being expected to continue to increase over the coming years. 9 The debt-toincome ratio for the entire household sector is currently over 186 per cent.