You have people concerned about inflation picking up, you have higher oil prices, and you have the talk of sanctions against Iran. All of these factors may keep investors relatively more interested in gold than they otherwise would be.

Strip out higher oil prices, and Europe doesn't have an inflation problem. We're still bullish for the medium term.

A year ago some said that the doubling of oil prices would push our inflation far beyond target and that a recession was required to slow the increase in house prices.

Both [the French and the euro-zone data] reflect higher oil prices rather than any rise in underlying inflation.

The inflation-adjusted number, the finite supply of oil, and the growing demand for oil from one-third of the world's population all point to higher prices.

Rising oil prices are not only affecting current inflation rates but they're also overshadowing next year, ... It can't be ruled out that risks for price developments will deteriorate that much over the medium term that we might have to expect the annual inflation rate to slightly exceed 2 percent.