energy prices. harmonized inflation in the euro - area rose to a high of 10 percent in september, up from 9. 1 percent in august, indicating a continuing rising trend. based on the september eurosystem staff broad 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches macroeconomic projection exercise, both headline and core inflation are expected to be higher in 2022, at 8. 1 per cent and 3. 9 per cent, respectively. in fact core inflation is expected to be slightly above our inflation target by the end of the forecast horizon at 2. 3 per cent. energy price inflation remained extremely elevated at 40. 8 per cent in september and it continues to be the dominant component of overall inflation. marketbased indicators suggest that, in the near term, oil prices are likely to moderate, while wholesale gas prices will stay extraordinarily high. the relatively high import share of gas needed for the eu27 energy consumption, will create extensive challenges in the coming winter months, especially, in countries with gas - intensive industrial sectors. food price inflation also rose in september ( to 11. 8 per cent ), reflecting higher input costs related to energy, disruptions of trade in food commodities, and adverse weather conditions. while supply bottlenecks have been easing, these continue to gradually feed through to consumer prices and are putting further upward pressure on inflation, as is recovering demand in the services sector. the depreciation of the euro has also contributed to the rising inflationary pressures, together with the aforementioned supply and demand factors. monetary policy the ecb's primary objective is price stability, which is defined as keeping inflation at 2 % over the medium term. in response to these developments, in our september monetary policy meeting, the governing council of the ecb decided to raise policy rates by 75 basis points. this significant step frontloads the transition to normalise monetary policy towards levels that will enable the timely return of inflation to our two per cent medium - term target. unquestionably, the key current challenge, is to put under control excessive and persistent inflationary dynamics. monetary policy decisions, however, have to be considered and made within the following context : monetary policy takes roughly 18 months to affect the real economy as it is channelled through banks, households and firms and consequently impacts their decisions on credit, consumption and investment, respectively. therefore, monetary policy does not target current inflation but the medium term inflation outlook. at the current juncture that most of inflation is cost push

important to continue working towards compliance with the standards and rules relating to central banks. we have seen a lot of progress on many of the recommendations made by us in 2007. one example is the publication of a financial stability report, which you have today on your website. the areas for this upcoming technical assistance were identified by you. your management and staff have been working closely with the ecb ’ s project management team – present here today – to define your specific goals and the working methods you will use. i think that the programme that will start on 1 april is very ambitious and i am confident that, together, we can achieve what we are setting out to do. during the next 18 months you will be working closely with experts from the ecb as well as with experts from national central banks of the eurosystem. i am very pleased that we have found leading experts who will be able to support you in the areas of your choice. what will we be working on? first, there are three areas that were covered during the needs analysis programme : statistics ; economic analysis and research ; and financial stability. then there are the new areas : these relate to legal harmonisation, improvements in your it resources, and coordination of your integration with the eu. there will be a need to coordinate efforts in the six different areas and for expert support in some areas on a day - to - day basis. this will be the main task of ms mara vyborny, a central bank expert with experience from the oesterreichische nationalbank and the european central bank, who will be our resident programme coordinator here in sarajevo. mara is here today, and i would like to wish her every success in this undertaking. the analysis of the central bank of bosnia and herzegovina ’ s current status in relation to reaching the targets of the programme and the ensuing guidance on how to do so will be carried out and provided by the ecb, together with colleagues from the national central banks of germany, greece, spain, italy, the netherlands, austria and slovenia. i would like to warmly greet the representatives from several of these participating central banks who have accompanied me here today. as was the case when we worked together in 2007, i am sure that we will find you, mr governor, and your staff to be highly motivated partners. from our side, rest assured that you will be able to rely upon our commitment and enthusiasm, both on the part of the ecb and of the partner central banks and their respective