At its monetary policy meeting on 8 December 2016, based on the regular economic and monetary analyses, the Governing Council conducted a comprehensive assessment of the economic and inflation outlook and the monetary policy stance.
The assessment confirmed the need to extend the asset purchase programme beyond March 2017 to preserve the very substantial amount of monetary support that is necessary to secure a sustained convergence of inflation rates towards levels below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.
