provides long - term funds at a low interest rate to financial institutions that have increased their lending, at their request, up to an amount equivalent to the net increase in their lending, with a view to encouraging them to take more aggressive action and helping stimulate the proactive credit demand of firms and households. in addition, there is no upper limit to the total amount of funds provided by the bank under this facility. the outstanding balance of the total loans provided through both facilities of the loan support program has exceeded 7 trillion yen, supporting financial institutions ’ efforts to tap firms ’ proactive demand for funds. d. developments in financial markets reflecting such aggressive monetary easing measures, financial conditions in japan have been substantially accommodative. as for firms ’ funding costs, financial institutions ’ lending rates have been significantly low. cp issuance rates have declined to around 0. 1 percent – equivalent to the interest rate applied to excess reserve balances at the bank – and yield spreads between corporate bonds and jgbs have remained narrow on the whole. with regard to credit supply, firms have continued to see financial institutions ’ lending attitudes as being on an improving trend. from end - 2012 until the beginning of april 2013, long - term interest rates in japan declined significantly, reflecting heightened expectations for large - scale monetary easing by the bank and some anticipation of abolishment of the payment of interest on excess reserve balances. however, since the introduction of qqe at the beginning of april, the entire yield curve has risen, reflecting ( 1 ) the correction of the level of interest rates on instruments with mediumterm maturities due to a drop in anticipation of abolishment of interest payments as well as ( 2 ) the phenomenon of “ buying on rumors and selling on facts. ” moreover, since the middle of may, a rise in u. s. long - term interest rates stemming from speculation about possible changes in quantitative easing in the united states has been exerting strong upward pressure on japan ’ s long - term interest rates. at present, yields on 10 - year jgbs have been in the range of 0. 7 – 0. 8 percent, which in absolute terms are higher than those before qqe was introduced at the beginning of april. it should be noted, however, that while the rise in u. s. long - term interest rates has actually caused interest rates in germany and the united kingdom to follow suit, interest rates in japan have recently been more or less

the transformation of labour, which must be both more abundant and more qualified. our growth will benefit and our inflation will be more effectively controlled. for the first time in over forty page 3 of 5 years, france can aim for full employment – meaning unemployment of less than 5 % – within the next ten years. let's not lose track or miss this opportunity. * * i'd now like to turn to my two additional wishes for 2024 : sound financing of our economy and the reawakening of europe. 2. 1 sound financing of the french economy after the us and swiss banking crises in march, real fears were expressed about liquidity. these fears are no longer justified : french banks continue to enjoy highly stable total deposits, and liquidity coverage ratios well above 100 %. the solvency of the financial sector has improved further. the fact that our financial stability has been preserved is attributable first and foremost to your sound management, which i commend ; it is also due to a highly reassuring " european tandem " : ( i ) stringent regulation, in particular basel 3, which took a further legislative step forward in december with the adoption of crr3 and crd6 ( ii ) a single, efficient supervision mechanism thanks to ten years of ssm and the acpr. the paris financial centre has further enhanced its attractiveness, to establish itself as the unquestioned leading continental financial centre post - brexit : most of the major international banks of american or british origin have now chosen paris as the location for establishing the majority of their staff dedicated to market activities in the euro area, and three have decided to set up their european headquarters here. success will continue to beget success. the resilience of the banking sector must enable it to provide sound financing for the french economy. as far as businesses ( including smes and vses ) are concerned, access to credit appears to be well preserved overall : outstanding loans rose by 2. 7 % year - on - year in november, a rate well above the euro area average of 0. 1 %. we will nevertheless continue to monitor, together with credit mediation, the ability of sectors and businesses to obtain financing, with particular attention also being paid to credit insurance. in 2024, we will also develop the banque de france's new climate indicator, to help businesses and banks in their transition. page 4 of 5 as regards households and housing loans, we all know that there are more