promote structural reform in order to facilitate a recovery in private demand. with regard to prices, import prices are declining somewhat due to the appreciation of the yen. domestic wholesale prices, notwithstanding the fall in prices of electric machinery, are flat mainly due to the rise in prices of petroleum and chemical products reflecting an increase in crude oil prices. consumer prices remain unchanged fundamentally. corporate service prices are still falling slowly. as this report was written based on data and information available when the bank of japan monetary policy meeting was held on january 17, 2000. the bank ’ s view on recent economic and financial developments, determined by the policy board at the monetary policy meeting held on january 17 as the basis of monetary policy decisions. for the outlook, overall prices are likely to be flat for the time being despite the continued fall expected in prices of some machinery. this is because the supply - demand balance is improving gradually, as shown in the decline in inventories, and because the rise in crude oil prices to date will continue to be passed on to prices of other products for a while. however, attention should still be paid to the downward pressure on prices, as clear signs of a self - sustained recovery in private demand have not yet been observed and wages continue to fall. the financial markets have been generally stable reflecting ample funds provision by the bank of japan, despite the surge in demand for liquidity including seasonal demand for year - end funds and precautionary demand in view of the year 2000 problem. no significant disruptions have resulted from the millennium date change in financial transactions. the overnight call rate has stayed at nearly zero, and financial institutions have been confident about the availability of overnight funds. the amount outstanding of funds in the call money market has increased slightly. interest rates on term instruments rose toward the end of 1999 due to market participants ’ concerns about the year 2000 problem, but declined around the turn of the year as these concerns were dispelled. the japan premium remains negligible. yields on long - term government bonds generally followed a downward trend from late november throughout december 1999, but then rebounded somewhat and are presently ranging between 1. 751. 80 percent. the yield spread between private bonds ( bank debentures and corporate bonds ) and government bonds continues narrowing, primarily that between private bonds with relatively low credit ratings and government bonds. stock prices, after exceeding 19, 000 yen at the beginning of 2000, weakened to around 18, 000 - 18, 500 yen following the correction in the u

november 24, 2020 bank of japan policy measures to date and in the future, in response to the spread of covid - 19 - - lessons from the global financial crisis - opening remarks at the virtual conference co - hosted by the international monetary fund and the university of tokyo kuroda haruhiko governor of the bank of japan introduction it is my great honor to speak today at this virtual conference co - hosted by the international monetary fund ( imf ) and the university of tokyo. it has been a decade since the global financial crisis - - or gfc - - and two decades since japan's financial crisis and the asian financial crisis. today, we are facing a new crisis, triggered by the spread of covid - 19. this conference is intended to learn from our past experience and to gain insight into how best to respond to these extremely challenging circumstances. in this sense, the conference could hardly be more timely. i. policy responses to date regarding covid - 19 the spread of covid - 19 has had an even greater impact on the global economy than the gfc. the gdp growth rate for the april - june quarter of 2020 declined substantially in many countries. moreover, due to concerns over the deterioration in the real economy, global financial markets temporarily became volatile in march : there was a sudden drop in the prices of stocks and credit assets ; the cp and corporate bond markets became frozen ; and there were substantial outflows of capital from emerging economies. in response to these developments, governments, central banks, and international organizations have been swift to implement policy response measures, both fiscal and monetary, on an unprecedented scale. these responses have helped economic entities with their financing, markets to regain stability earlier than in the case of the gfc, and the global economy to start picking up. i would point to three particularly important elements in the policy responses taken so far to address the impact of covid - 19. the first is that swift and abundant liquidity provision by central banks and international organizations prevented the materialization of a negative feedback loop between economic and financial activities. one of the lessons learned from the gfc is that if market confidence is undermined amid heightening uncertainty, there is the possibility of the real economy and finance falling into an adverse spiral. there would be a significant credit contraction as financial institutions'funding becomes difficult. mindful of these risks, central banks have played a considerable role in recovering market confidence, acting as the global lender of last resort, with ample liquid