a year - on - year basis partly because the increase in productivity and the restraint on labor costs by firms have absorbed the effects of the rise in commodity prices. the money market remains stable overall against the background of the bank ’ s provision of ample liquidity. in the capital markets, long - term interest rates rose somewhat toward the middle of 2004, but have been moving at around 1. 5 percent recently. stock prices have been generally firm with the ongoing economic recovery. the environment for corporate finance is becoming more accommodative on the whole, although it remains severe for firms with high credit risks. the lending attitude of private banks is becoming more accommodative, and the lending attitude of financial institutions as perceived by firms has been improving. the pace of decline in credit demand in the private sector is becoming somewhat moderate. under these circumstances, the rate of decline in lending by private banks has basically been diminishing. moreover, the fund - raising environment for firms in the capital markets through cp and corporate bonds remains favorable, and the amount outstanding of cp and corporate bonds issued continues to be above the previous year ’ s level. ii. conduct of monetary policy the bank has been conducting the quantitative easing policy with the outstanding balance of current accounts held at the bank as the operating target. in accordance with the current target range for the outstanding balance of “ around 30 to 35 trillion yen, ” the bank is providing ample liquidity to the money market. the bank has also made a commitment to maintain the quantitative easing policy until the year - on - year rate of change in the consumer price index ( cpi ; excluding fresh food, on a nationwide basis ) registers zero percent or higher on a sustainable basis. the bank ’ s commitment has contributed to stabilizing market participants ’ projection of future interest rates, and thus market interest rates have been stable. in this situation, firms have been able to raise funds at low interest rates. the commitment ’ s positive effects through interest rates on the economy will strengthen as corporate profits increase with economic recovery. with these policy effects in mind, the bank has firmly maintained its quantitative easing policy with the commitment based on the cpi. the bank has been making efforts to make credit intermediation in the market more diversified and efficient so that monetary easing effects permeate throughout the economy, and these efforts are expected to improve the japanese financial and capital markets in the long term. as part of such efforts, the bank started to purchase asset - backed securities (

mentioned earlier, the bank of japan aims to achieve the 2 percent price stability target, and in a society where wages and prices rise in a stable manner, financial literacy becomes even more important. therefore, i believe that the promotion of financial education in japan is now particularly significant. a number of surveys on financial literacy have been conducted in japan, with their results revealing many challenges. one such survey is the financial literacy survey conducted in 2016 by the ccfsi. in international comparisons, japan ranked 24th out of 31 countries and economies in terms of the percentage of correct answers given to common financial questions. 6 according to another survey, the percentage of correct answers given to a since 1950, efforts to encourage voluntary and proactive savings, with the aim of realizing economic autonomy, were led by the local councils for savings promotion. the central council for savings promotion was established in 1952 as the focus for private organizations related to this movement. this was then reorganized as the central council for savings information to concentrate on public relations activities providing accurate knowledge and information regarding the economy, finance, and currency. the council was then renamed as the ccfsi ( secretariat : public relations department, bank of japan ) in 2001. as suggested by the april 2013 report of the study group on financial education under the fsa, the committee for the promotion of financial education ( secretariat : ccfsi ) was established to address challenges facing the promotion of financial and economic education. the financial literacy survey is japan's first large - scale survey covering 25, 000 individuals chosen in proportion to japan's demographic structure. the comparison with overseas was done in question about the meaning of deflation was slightly above 20 percent. 7 obviously, it is no wonder that we face many challenges in financial education, as is the case with education in general. my concern, however, is the possibility that there is not sufficient recognition in japan of the necessity for financial education in the first place. for example, in a survey of adults conducted in 2016 by the fsa, about 70 percent of respondents answered that they " have not participated in investment education, " and about two - thirds of these respondents stated that they " do not wish to acquire financial or investment knowledge. " this means that nearly half of all respondents in the survey indicated such unwillingness. my impression is that investment, in particular, is still perceived as something that wealthy people do. 8 while this may be partly due to the prolonged period of deflation, i believe it is important that the