We have a more mixed picture (and) that would have made some people rethink economic prospects maybe towards the end of the year.

For the ECB it's about inflation risk management rather than inflation fighting. That's a crucial difference. If it was about fighting inflation, he could be much more aggressive and pre-commit.

The preference to creating jobs is increasing and fear of unemployment among people has decreased.

If anything it was a slightly more hawkish spin (than we were expecting).

The leading indicators are giving a realistic picture. We are expecting growth in Germany of 0.6 percent in the first quarter.

Nobody inside or outside the ECB will be surprised by a 25 basis point rise.

Unless things go completely wrong, the ECB is prepared to raise rates by a quarter point in March.

It's a strong start to the year and the first quarter looks solid. However, we're not in a boom situation by any means. We're still not seeing any breakthrough on the job market.

The government has done very little on reforms. We are not getting those reforms which were proposed last year.