KOF Monetary Policy Communicator for the Euro Area
The KOF MPC figure for 26 April 2018 is 0.06. Despite some signs of moderation in the economic expansion, the ECB confirmed its confidence that inflation rates will converge towards the ECB’s inflation aim.
At today’s meeting, the ECB’s Governing Council decided to keep all key ECB interest rates unchanged.
According to Eurostat, euro area annual HICP inflation was 1.3 per cent in March, up from 1.1 per cent in February. This development mainly reflected higher food price inflation. Inflation is expected to hover around 1.5% for the rest of the year. Measures of underlying inflation are still viewed as subdued. The governing council communicated that it still needs to see convincing signs of a sustained upward trend in underlying inflation. Hence, an ample degree of monetary stimulus is deemed necessary for underlying inflation pressures to build up and support inflation developments over the medium term. The Governing Council monitors developments in the exchange rate and financial conditions with regard to their possible implications for the inflation outlook. Risks related to global factors, including the threat of increased protectionism, have become more prominent.
Current ECB holdings of securities for monetary policy purposes amount to 2,486bn euros (end of March: 2,467bn euros).