At our December Governing Council meeting, we will thoroughly assess the strength and persistence of the factors that are slowing the return of inflation towards 2%. We will use as one input the Eurosystem staff projections. Another input will be the work of our staff in consultation with the Eurosystem Committees on the monetary policy stimulus that has been achieved so far, and the range of instruments available in case more accommodation is seen as necessary. If we conclude that the balance of risks to our medium-term price stability objective is skewed to the downside, we will act by using all the instruments available within our mandate. In particular, we consider the APP to be a powerful and flexible instrument, as it can be adjusted in terms of size, composition or duration to achieve a more expansionary policy stance. The level of the deposit facility rate can also empower the transmission of APP, not least by increasing the velocity of circulation of bank reserves. In making our assessment of the risks to price stability, we will not ignore the fact that inflation has already been low for some time. Looking forward, monetary policy will remain accommodative for as long as needed to secure a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation. That means we want to feel suitably confident that inflation will not only converge to, but also stabilise around levels close to 2% over the relevant medium-term horizon. So let me reiterate what I said here last year: if we decide that the current trajectory of our policy is not sufficient to achieve that objective, we will do what we must to raise inflation as quickly as possible. That is what our price stability mandate requires of us.


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