"I would like, if I may, to say a few words about today's decision by the ECB Governing Council. First things first: the Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections presented today give no cause for concern over the development of the euro-area economy. In fact, they confirm my view that the steep drop in energy prices is supporting the recovery of the euro area's economy. The lower energy prices also go a long way towards explaining the evolution of consumer price inflation. While the depreciation of the euro in recent weeks was seen as a stimulating factor in the staff projections, it did not come solely as a result of the expected loosening of the Eurosystem's monetary policy stance. It is also an outcome of firmer expectations of a policy rate hike in the USA, for instance.
It's clear that inflation as forecast by the Eurosystem staff will fall short of our price stability target not only in 2016 but probably into 2017 as well. That's not something we should simply brush aside. But given the predominant role which the drop in energy prices plays in euro-area inflation and the extensive monetary policy measures that have already been taken – which can entail risks and side-effects of their own – I personally did not see any case for a further easing of monetary conditions.
There have always been phases in which falling energy prices allow inflation to drop temporarily into negative territory. One such spell was in 1986-87, in the days of Karl Otto Pöhl, and monetary policymakers were wise to look through such short-lived shocks as long as there were no signs of second-round effects. And I see no such indications at present."
Further information on the decisions can be found in the german contribution.
