2. 0 - 3. 0 2. 0 1. 9 2. 2 1. 5 1. 5 4. 4 2. 2 - 4. 0 18. 7 23. 0 1. 8 1. 9 2. 2 0. 5 - 4. 0 19. 2 23. 2 1. 8 1. 8 2. 5 0. 6 - 3. 9 19. 2 23. 2 ( annual change, percent ) gdp demanda interna domestic demand ( w / o inventory change ) gross fixed capital formation total consumption private consumption goods and services exports goods and services imports current account ( % of gdp ) gross national savings ( % of gdp ) nominal gfcf ( % of gdp ) ( f ) forecast. source : central bank of chile. figure 18 growth forecasts for selected economies ( annual change, percent ) 2013 - 2019 average 2023 ( f ) united states eurozone 2024 ( f ) 2025 ( f ) china trading partners ( * ) ( f ) forecast. ( * ) for definition, see glossary. source : central bank of chile. figure 19 commodity prices ( 1 ) ( dollars / lb ; dollars / barrel ; index ) copper oil 4. 5 foods ( fao ) 4. 0 3. 5 3. 0 2. 5 2. 0 21 23 ( f ) 25 ( f ) 21 23 ( f ) 25 ( f ) 21 23 ( f ) 25 ( f ) ( f ) forecast. ( 1 ) actual price / index refers to average of each year. ( 2 ) red diamonds correspond to forecasts in the central scenario of june 2023 mp report for each year in 2023 - 2025 period. ( 3 ) for oil : wti - brent average price per barrel. sources : central bank of chile, bloomberg, and fao. figure 20 mpr corridor ( * ) ( quarterly average, percent ) 25. ii 25. i 24. iv 24. iii 24. ii 24. i 23. iv 23. iii 23. ii 23. i 22. iv 22. iii 22. ii 22. i 21. iv 21. iii 21. i 21. ii jun. 23 corridor fts ees mar. 23 corridor mpr 13. 0 12. 0 11. 0 10. 0 9. 0 8. 0 7. 0 6. 0 5. 0 4. 0 3. 0 2. 0 1. 0 0. 0 ( * ) the corridor is built with the methodology

. yet it remains a necessary condition. and today in the euro area we face a situation where price stability is once more under threat – this time not through too high inflation, but through inflation remaining too low for too long. in that context, the ecb has been engaged in an unprecedented expansion of its monetary policy toolkit to bring inflation back to its objective. yet these measures have not been uncontroversial, and questions have been raised about their necessity. what i would like to talk about today, therefore, is not so much what the ecb has done, or how it works, but why the ecb has been so determined to raise inflation. that requires that we first take a closer look at the ecb ’ s objective. see romer, c. and d. romer ( 2013 ), “ the most dangerous idea in federal reserve history : monetary policy doesn ’ t matter ”, american economic review : papers & proceedings 2013, 103 ( 3 ) : 55 – 60. federal open market committee meeting, transcript, 21 march 1978. bis central bankers ’ speeches the ecb ’ s objective the treaty on the functioning of the european union establishes the ecb ’ s primary objective as maintaining price stability. but unlike some other central banks, we have not been given a specific numerical inflation target by a legislature or ministry. to enhance accountability, in 1998 the ecb governing council decided that price stability should be defined in quantitative terms, as a year - on - year increase in the harmonised index of consumer prices for the euro area of below 2 %, and that it should be maintained over the medium - term. following a thorough evaluation of its monetary policy strategy in 2003, the governing council further clarified that, within this definition of price stability, it aims to maintain inflation rates “ below, but close to, 2 % over the medium - term ”. in other words, since that clarification in 2003 the numerical range for the definition of price stability has been supplemented with a focal point at which the governing council aims, while the temporal horizon over which price stability has to be achieved has remained flexible. however, as inflation has consistently been ratcheting down to the bottom of the price stability range in the course of the past four years and our measures, as a consequence, have become more expansionary, how we interpret our objective and the relevant horizon for delivery have been called more into question. there have been two main issues raised. first, some have asked if