Like most other central banks around the world, Sveriges Riksbank focuses on keeping inflation low and stable, because this creates good conditions for a favourable economic development. The Sveriges Riksbank Act defines the task of monetary policy, but the Riksdag has delegated to the Riksbank and its Executive Board to decide independently how exactly the target should be formulated and how it should be attained.^[2] The new Sveriges Riksbank Act, which is expected to come into force at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023, entails a change in this respect, since the Riksdag will in future formally approve the proposed target level. When the inflation target was introduced in 1993, the target was defined as an annual change in inflation of 2 per cent, and since September 2017 the Riksbank uses the fixed-rate consumer price index, the CPIF, as the target variable. The Riksbank conducts a policy of flexible inflation targeting. This means that while monetary policy's overriding task is to attain the inflation target, it shall also support the objectives of general economic policy for the purpose of attaining sustainable growth and a high level of employment. There is no general answer to the question of how quickly inflation should be brought back to 2 per cent if it deviates from the target.^[3] Monetary policy affects the the real economy and inflation through different channels, which means that different mechanisms operate simultaneously. Some have a fairly direct impact on inflation, while others take longer to have an effect. The speed at which inflation can be brought back to the target depends, among other factors, on how far from the target it is to begin with. In general, monetary policy has been adjusted so that inflation is close to the target two to three years ahead. The Riksbank therefore also publishes its forecasts on this horizon.