speech learn from the past and plan for the future : a perspective on monetary policy read aloud ‘ as the disinflationary path in the euro area continues and the medium - term inflation outlook further improves, we become increasingly confident that inflation will return to target in a timely manner. consequently, it can soon be appropriate to ease the currently restrictive monetary policy stance, and gradually take our foot off the brake. ’, said klaas knot in his speech at the barclays - cepr monetary policy forum today. knot spoke about the economy, inflation and the outlook for monetary policy. published : 28 may 2024 © dnb good afternoon everyone, thank you very much for inviting me to join this distinguished panel here at the barclayscepr monetary policy forum. it ’ s a pleasure to be here. i feel particularly inspired knowing that we are assembled here just a few blocks away from gordon square, where john maynard keynes – one of the greatest economic minds of modern times – lived. preparing for this event, i learned that this beautiful venue is sometimes also called the ‘ titanic hotel ’. the main reason being that the restaurant is said to be almost identical to the titanic's dining room. both were designed by charles fitzroy doll, the hotel ’ s architect, and also the man who was commissioned to do the first - class parts of the ocean liner. let me say that although i feel the weight of the historical context of this beautiful place, thankfully i do not see a connection between the euro area economy and the doomed ship. in fact, the economy has sailed a steady course lately despite high global waves and tight monetary policy. © dnb starting with inflation, i am confident to say that the inflation peak lies behind us. chart 1 on the left - hand side shows the evolution of euro area headline inflation, decomposed into its main components since 2019. we see a clear disinflation since late 2022 when inflation stood at more than 10 %. this largely reflects the unwinding of earlier energy and food prices spikes, as well as the easing of supply - side bottlenecks. the reduction in goods inflation from 6. 8 % to 0. 9 % has been very strong, too. only services inflation still stands at an elevated 3. 7 %. the next phase of disinflation is likely to be more volatile, because the large swings in energy prices last year together with the staggered reversal of fiscal support measures have an impact on this year ’

inflation is a ‘ wicked problem ’ − speech by huw pill introductory remarks given at the warwick think tank, warwick university published on 16 february 2023 speech good evening everyone. it is a great pleasure to be here at the warwick think tank today. thanks to the organisers for the invitation to participate. i am sure that you have many questions about the outlook for the uk economy. we all do. i am looking forward to discussing those in a moment. but before we turn to that discussion, i thought i would kick - off with a few remarks about the framework within which monetary policy works. the first thing to say is that the objective of monetary policy in the uk is very clear. the bank of england ’ s monetary policy committee ( mpc ) has the objective of price stability. through achieving price stability, monetary policy creates an environment in which firms and households can make the longer - term plans and investment decisions that generate the innovation, dynamism and productivity that ultimately drive growth and prosperity. price stability has been operationalised in the form of an inflation target of 2 % for the consumer price index ( cpi ). this target holds at all times. the mpc therefore needs to achieve this target on a sustainable basis : it is not a target for one moment or horizon, but must be achieved on an ongoing basis over the medium term. while we have seen some easing in the past couple of months as the impact of past energy price rises starts to recede, uk cpi inflation is still in double digits. that is unacceptably high. in line with its mandate, the mpc has taken action to bring inflation back to the 2 % target on a sustainable basis. over the past 18 months since i joined the mpc : we have raised bank rate by almost 400 basis points ; we have halted asset purchases and started to run down the portfolio of assets held as a result of quantitative easing ( qe ) ; and we have changed the character of our communication about the economic outlook and its implications for policy. taken all together, this represents a significant tightening of the monetary policy stance, commensurate to the significant challenges to price stability we have been and are facing. these challenges come from recent rises in european wholesale energy prices ; from disruptions to global supply chains ; from the strength of corporate pricing power ; and from tightness in the uk labour market. all of these challenges continue to threaten or linger. the mpc has done a lot to address these challenges.