Mr. Vasileios Madouros:

The one thing I would say is that monetary policy works with a lag. It takes time from the point at which action is taken until the point at which it influences inflation in the economy. The setting of monetary policy is forward looking. When we consider the effectiveness of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, we look at a range of dimensions. Looking across the euro area at present, it is probably operating as we would expect overall. However, it will take time to influence inflation and bring inflation back to target.