take the lead in this regard. growing debt levels not only bring with them a potential for greater conflict between fiscal and monetary policy, but first and foremost, place a burden on the sustainability of public finances in the affected countries. it is, therefore, in the interests of each and every country to return to sound public finances as quickly as possible. in the current circumstances, where europe faces pivotal decisions, it is more important than ever to recognise that a prosperous union requires determined action by all. regarding all further decisions on the way ahead, the most important issue is that europe ’ s policy - makers take and live up to their responsibility. this should hold not only for the european institutions – the european parliament, the commission and the ecb. it is also absolutely crucial that the governments themselves exert all their responsibilities of control and surveillance of the peers within the eurogroup and the council. i am confident that europe will find a way to achieve this. over the past 60 years, europe has time and again succeeded in emerging from crises stronger than before. as i emphasised yesterday in the plenary session of the european parliament, monetary union in europe is far more than a monetary arrangement. it is a union of shared destiny. in order to surmount the consequences of the financial crisis, all public and private decision - makers must live up to their responsibility in their respective fields. for the ecb, this means continuing to fulfil its mandate – of maintaining price stability – in a fully independent and inflexible manner, for the future as it has done in the past. it will remain a bastion of stability and confidence, and is, therefore, on the side of the citizens. and, by guaranteeing price stability, it will do its clearly defined part to protect the long - term interests and future prospects of us all.

assumptions, especially for oil prices and exchange rates. on the basis of information available in mid - november, at the time the december 2014 eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area were finalised, annual hicp inflation was foreseen to reach 0. 5 % in 2014, 0. 7 % in 2015 and 1. 3 % in 2016. in comparison with the september 2014 ecb staff macroeconomic projections, they have been revised significantly downwards. these revisions reflect mainly lower oil prices in euro terms and the impact of the downwardly revised outlook for growth, but they do not yet incorporate the fall in oil prices over the past few weeks following the cut - off date for the projections. over the coming months, annual hicp inflation rates could experience renewed downward movements, given the recent further decline in oil prices. the governing council will continue to closely monitor the risks to the outlook for price developments over the medium term. in this context, we will focus in particular on the possible repercussions of dampened growth dynamics, geopolitical developments, exchange rate and energy price developments, and the pass - through of our monetary policy measures. we will be particularly vigilant as regards the broader impact of recent oil price developments on medium - term inflation trends in the euro area. turning to the monetary analysis, data for october 2014 support the assessment of subdued underlying growth in broad money ( m3 ), with the annual growth rate standing at 2. 5 % in october, unchanged from september. annual growth in m3 continues to be supported by its most liquid components, with the narrow monetary aggregate m1 growing at an annual rate of 6. 2 % in october. the annual rate of change of loans to non - financial corporations ( adjusted for loan sales and securitisation ) was – 1. 6 % in october, after – 1. 8 % in september, showing a gradual recovery from a trough of – 3. 2 % in february. on average over recent months, net redemptions have moderated from the historically high levels recorded a year ago. lending to non - financial corporations continues to reflect the lagged relationship with the business cycle, credit risk, credit supply factors and the ongoing adjustment of financial and non - financial sector balance sheets. the annual growth rate of loans to households ( adjusted for loan sales and securitisation ) was 0. 6 % in october, after 0. 5 % in september. the monetary policy measures in place and the completion of the ecb