Price Stability: Why is it important?

ECB, 2011. 80 p. — ISBN: 978-92-899-0690-6.More than 330 million people in 17 European countries share the euro as their currency. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) is responsible for the single monetary policy in these countries, which are known collectively as the euro area. The Eurosystem, comprising the ECB and the national central banks (NCBs) of the euro area countries, has a clear mandate assigned by the Treaty establishing the European Community: its primary objective is to maintain price stability in the euro area. In other words, the Governing Council of the ECB is mandated to preserve the purchasing power of the euro. This mandate reflects a broad consensus in society that, by maintaining price stability, monetary policy contributes significantly to sustainable growth, economic welfare and job creation.