At its monetary policy meeting on 3 December 2015, the Governing Council re-examined the degree of monetary policy accommodation: the analysis confirmed the need for further monetary stimulus in order to secure a return of inflation rates towards levels that are below, but close to, 2%.
The December 2015 Eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections indicated continued downside risks to the inflation outlook and slightly weaker inflation dynamics than previously expected. This followed downward revisions in earlier projection exercises.
The Governing Council noted that the persistence of low inflation rates reflected sizeable economic slack weighing on domestic price pressures and headwinds from the external environment, and that the staff projections already incorporated the favourable financial market developments following the October monetary policy meeting.
