Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said ECB is “”not striving for either lower or higher rates” of inflation with the new symmetric target. He added, the 2% medium term inflation goal is a “clear and easily understandable objective,” and that “temporary deviations from the target in either direction can occur.”
Separately, Governing Council member Olli Rehn said the “new inflation goal is unambiguous.” Clearly, the “medium-term core inflation forecast of 1.4% below new aim.”
Another Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said ECB will still need to analyze the meaning of a “temporary” overshoot of inflation. “We didn’t discuss any duration, we didn’t discuss any numbers. It’s all about the context,” he said. “In monetary policy, you have to combine the direction with judgment. We set the direction very clearly.”
