yutaka yamaguchi : central banking in uncharted territory remarks by mr yutaka yamaguchi, deputy governor of the bank of japan, at the foreign correspondents ’ club of japan, tokyo, 3 july 2002. * 1. * * introduction it is my great honor and pleasure to address the foreign correspondents ’ club of japan today. recalling last year ’ s experience at this club, my colleague, deputy governor fujiwara, warned me to be prepared for a high risk of receiving very tough questions today. i think there are two cases when a cautious central banker willingly takes such a risk. the first is when the economy is doing so well and the central banker wants to display a good job. the other is when he / she really wants to ensure listeners better understand the state of the economy. unfortunately, my decision to be here today is the latter case. japan ’ s economy now faces a broad range of difficulties. various comments are made on japan ’ s economy and monetary policy by economists both in japan and abroad. listening to some of them, i sometimes feel a perception gap which is difficult to remedy. using the limited time given today, i would like to discuss the challenges facing japan ’ s economy and the role of monetary policy. i would also like to touch upon the perception gap in the context of the transparency of monetary policy. 2. economic and financial developments in japan just like other economies, from the end of 2000, japan ’ s economy experienced a sharp downturn in exports and production against the background of a slowdown in the us economy and the collapse of the global it boom. downward pressure on the economy initially hit the corporate sector in the form of deterioration in profits and a fall in capital expenditures. since summer last year, the adjustment process has gradually spread to the household sector through weakening employment and wages. against this background, the underlying trend of private consumption remains weak. in recent months, we have at last seen some positive signs. exports have clearly started to increase and production has been recovering. major factors inducing such positive changes are again external developments including the us economic recovery and the progress of stock adjustment in the it - related industries. the issue here is whether such positive moves could lead to a sustainable economic recovery. the bank of japan publishes a half - yearly report entitled “ outlook and risk assessment of the economy and prices ”, and the most recent april issue gives the outlook for this fiscal year. as a standard scenario for japan ’ economy for the rest of

haruhiko kuroda : the bank of japan ’ s semiannual report on currency and monetary control statement by mr haruhiko kuroda, governor of the bank of japan, before the committee on financial affairs, house of representatives, tokyo, 26 march 2013. * * * introduction the bank of japan submits to the diet its semiannual report on currency and monetary control in june and december. most recently, the bank submitted the report for the first half of fiscal 2012 on december 7, 2012. i am pleased to have this opportunity to talk about recent developments in japan ’ s economy and present an overall review of the bank ’ s conduct of monetary policy. i. economic and financial developments in japan first, i will explain economic and financial developments in japan. japan ’ s economy has remained relatively weak since summer 2012 mainly against the background of the deceleration in overseas economies, but some positive signs have recently been observed. the bank currently assesses that the economy has stopped weakening. three factors can be pointed out as underlying developments behind this change in the economic situation. first, overseas economies – the u. s. and chinese economies in particular – have begun to show signs of emerging from their deceleration phase. the u. s. economy has been on a moderate recovery trend with increasing firmness, while the balance - sheet repair weighing on the economy has gradually been mitigated. private consumption has been increasing moderately and housing investment has been showing clear signs of picking up, as the employment situation follows an improving trend. business fixed investment, which had been constrained, shows signs of picking up. the chinese economy, albeit with some fluctuations in exports, appears to be emerging from its deceleration phase supported by firm domestic demand, with firmness in private consumption and rises in infrastructure investment. meanwhile, economic activity in europe continues to recede slowly as business fixed investment and private consumption have been declining partly due to the effects of fiscal austerity and the tightening of financial conditions, although further deterioration in business and household sentiment is coming to a halt. second, business and household sentiment has been improving mainly on the back of the recent depreciation of the yen and the rise in stock prices. in global financial markets, investors ’ risk aversion remains abated, partly due to progress made in policy responses regarding the european debt problem since last summer and to the fact that the u. s. “ fiscal cliff ” at the beginning of this year was avoided.