Mr. Gabriel Makhlouf:

Inflation is a statistical phenomenon in the end; it is what is measured. The reality is, of course, that it will be different for individual households. Depending on their spending patterns, people will have a different experience of inflation.

In some economies, for example in Ireland, compared with others in the euro area, as we know rents are a particular feature of price rises that may not exist in other parts of the euro area, so there are different reasons there may be different levels and different experiences. At the end of the day it is a statistical phenomenon. We understand what the data tell us and we try and work out what it is that we can do as the European Central Bank to make sure that we get inflation back to our target, which is 2% over the medium term. Right now, there are limits to what we can do because of the nature of the shock.