The Bank of Japan, as a central bank, must contribute to ensuring a stable macroeconomic environment through appropriate monetary policy measures, which will form the basis for creative and future-oriented corporate activity. In addition to this, the Bank of Japan assumes important responsibilities in improving the financial market and payment system infrastructure. The start of real-time gross settlement of fund transfers and government bond transfers from the beginning of next year is one of such efforts. When I think about structural reforms in the Japanese economy, I always think of the experiences of the euro area economy on this front. Today, nobody doubts the importance of structural reform, but it is difficult to achieve a social and political consensus as to the most practical approach.
Reform is accompanied by pain, and also takes a long time to bear fruit.
But once the direction is set, reform calls for further reform, thereby generating autonomous momentum. Developments in the euro area economy have much considerable implications and are encouraging to us. I realize it may sound too simplistic but the essence of reform lies in market integration. I say this because market integration leads to intensified competition. In the euro area, mergers and acquisitions are a driving force for corporate restructuring and industry reorganization.