This allowed for a significant carry-over: according to Commission's forecasts published last Friday, euro area economy should grow by 3.2 % in 2022 as a whole(ii), more than the forecast for the United States. As for 2023, while slowing down, growth could remain positive at 0.3 %, and it should rebound to 1.5 % in 2024. All economic forecasts are nevertheless surrounded with high uncertainty at present times, in light in particular of the latest of an unprecedented series of shocks. By the way, this is why we need to regulate strongly and quickly crypto assets internationally: the last episodes show us that we cannot allow for a second "crypto winter" to still add to uncertainty and financial instability. The Russian war in Ukraine is feeding a further surge in energy prices and other commodities, hence a negative shock on terms of trade. This geopolitical and economic environment weighs on the confidence of businesses and consumers. In particular, inflation has become the prime concern of our European citizens. The rise in consumer prices has amplified in recent months, reaching 10.7% in October – France displays the lowest rate in the euro area with 7.1 %, thanks in particular to its "tariff  1/4  BIS - Central bankers' speeches  shield" which protects households from increases in energy prices.
But two stand out. First, price stability does not guarantee stability of the economy as a whole. Second, the instruments used to pursue financial stability are in need of sharpening and refining. Setting Bank Rate to maintain price stability was successful in itself, but did not prevent a recession induced by a financial crisis. But let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. The period prior to the crisis was the most stable economic environment for generations. And, unlike most previous recessions, this crisis wasn’t preceded by an unsustainable boom in output. In the five years leading up to the crisis, overall GDP growth remained close to its long-run average and inflation differed from the 2% target on average by only 0.2 percentage  2  BIS Review 76/2009  points. Diverting monetary policy from its goal of price stability risks making the economy less stable and the financial system no more so. To argue that monetary policy should be directed to counter inadequately priced risk is to argue that unemployment is a price worth paying to tame the banking system. Inflation targeting is a necessary but not sufficient condition for stability in the economy as a whole. When a policy is necessary but not sufficient, the answer is not to abandon, but to augment, it. Indeed, the overarching lesson from this crisis is that the authorities lacked sufficient policy instruments to take effective actions. Nowhere was this more evident than in dealing with Northern Rock in the absence of proper resolution powers.