The survey finds that inflation expectations among euro area consumers for the year ahead is seen rising to 3.3% in January, up from 3.2% in December. The expectations for three years ahead remained unchanged at 2.5%.

As much as inflation data has been trending in favour of the ECB and their gradual push towards rate cuts, getting core inflation back down from 3% to 2% may be even more difficult than guiding the drop in price pressures last year. For now, only time will tell. But at least markets have listened and pushed back the pricing on the first rate cut to June.