expectations, central banks could reduce monetary accommodation to contain such developments. in this regard, with inflation remaining above the target, central banks in the united states and europe face the difficult choice of whether to maintain their current monetary easing and continue to support the economic recovery, or whether to reduce monetary accommodation to limit second - round effects. given the price developments in japan i have described, i think it makes sense that the bank does not actually need to adjust its large - scale monetary easing at present. central banks conduct monetary policies in line with developments in economic activities and prices of their respective economies. it is therefore natural that the specifics of and directions for their monetary policies are not the same, and this difference will instead contribute to stability in their economies as well as the global economy. iv. current situation of and outlook for tokushima prefecture's economy lastly, i would like to talk about the economy of tokushima prefecture. the economy has picked up as the impact of covid - 19 wanes. that is, private consumption has picked up and production also has increased. although there are high uncertainties, such as over the course of covid - 19, the economy is expected to continue to pick up. as with other prefectures, tokushima prefecture is facing the following challenges in the medium to long term : structural problems such as the declining and aging population, issues highlighted by the pandemic, such as with regard to digitalization, and the need to make efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals ( sdgs ), which have received growing attention worldwide. while prefectures across the nation have been working toward addressing these challenges in order to achieve sustainable development of their economy, tokushima prefecture has taken various initiatives ahead of others and gained attention both in japan and abroad as an advanced model. for example, i have heard that it - related firms - - attracted by one of the best optical broadband environments in japan - - are opening satellite offices throughout the prefecture. in addition, kamikatsu town, famous for its leaf - selling business, became the first municipality in japan to declare a " zero waste " policy 18 years ago in 2003, and is still drawing attention as a town where people can learn about environmental issues. in addition, the prefecture is one of the world's most advanced led regions, with more than 150 firms related to leds, which contribute greatly to energy and power savings. firms and universities are working together to promote led - based industries, create new industries, and develop

as a result of swift and aggressive responses taken by the government and central bank in each country and region, tension in financial markets has abated somewhat. however, the markets have remained nervous due to a decline in liquidity. in addition, although japan's financial system has maintained stability on the whole, financial conditions have become less accommodative in terms of corporate financing, as seen in deterioration in firms'financial positions. ii. conduct of monetary policy next, i will explain the bank's conduct of monetary policy. the bank considers that the important thing in terms of monetary policy under the recent economic and financial situation is to support financing mainly of firms and maintain stability in financial markets. with this in mind, in march and april, it enhanced monetary easing. moreover, at the unscheduled monetary policy meeting held on may 22, the bank decided to introduce a new fund - provisioning measure to further support financing mainly of small and medium - sized firms. the bank has introduced and enhanced the following three measures since march : purchases of cp and corporate bonds, ( 2 ) the special funds - supplying operations to facilitate financing in response to the novel coronavirus ( covid - 19 ), and ( 3 ) the new fund - provisioning measure. through these three measures, which are referred to as the special program to support financing in response to the novel coronavirus ( covid - 19 ) with the total size of about 75 trillion yen, it will actively support financing mainly of firms while cooperating with the government. in addition, with a view to maintaining stability in financial markets, the bank has been providing ample yen and foreign currency funds without setting upper limits mainly through purchases of japanese government bonds ( jgbs ) and the conduct of the u. s. dollar funds - supplying operations, and has been actively purchasing assets such as exchange - traded funds ( etfs ). by conducting these measures, it will continue to contribute to supporting financing mainly of firms and maintaining stability in financial markets. the bank recognizes that powerful monetary easing measures will contribute to supporting economic and financial activities, coupled with various measures by the japanese government as well as those by the government and central bank of each country in response to the spread of covid - 19. on this basis, the bank will closely monitor the impact of covid - 19 for the time being and will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary. thank you.