percent in 2015 ( chart 5 ). looking at individual countries or regions, in the u. s. economy, firmness in the household sector has been spreading to the corporate sector and a pick - up in business fixed investment recently became evident. these developments are likely to lead to an increase in demand for some capital goods and parts – in which japan enjoys a competitive advantage – and therefore deserve attention when we consider the outlook for japan ’ s exports. in the euro area economy, a disinflationary trend – as seen in the decline in the year - on - year growth rate in consumer prices to 0. 3 percent – is a matter of concern. however, international markets ’ views on the european debt problem remain stable and the european central bank implemented a series of additional monetary easing measures in june and september. this background supports the view that the euro area economy will basically continue to recover, albeit moderately. in china, the economy is expected to maintain stable growth at around the current pace, since the government plans to give due attention to the economic recovery, such as by providing economic stimulus measures both on the monetary and fiscal fronts, although an adjustment in the real estate market has persisted. while other emerging economies and commodity - exporting countries have continued to lack growth momentum as a whole, positive effects of the recovery in advanced economies are expected to spread gradually. in the meantime, some geopolitical risks, including those in ukraine and iraq, still warrant attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches therefore, the bank ’ s baseline scenario is that overseas economies – mainly advanced economies – are likely to continue to recover, and japan ’ s exports are expected to head for a moderate increase. ii. price developments in japan let me turn now to price developments in japan. as i mentioned at the outset, the year - on - year rate of increase in the cpi ( excluding fresh food ) – which was minus 0. 4 percent in april last year when qqe was introduced – subsequently turned positive and increased further to around 1¼ percent recently ( chart 6 ). these developments reflect an improvement in the output gap and a rise in inflation expectations. the output gap has been improving at around 0 percent – the long - term average – with japan ’ s economy continuing to grow at a pace above its potential as a trend, although the effects of the front - loaded increase and subsequent decline in demand prior to and after the consumption tax hike have been observed. inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole,

156 - 175. data, averaged headcount ratios for extreme poverty decreased from 68 percent in the 1980s to 8 percent in the five - year period of 2010 - 2014 in south east asia and china. 7 in south asia, the extreme poverty ratios decreased from 50 percent to 19 percent. 8 however, poverty continues to be a considerable burden in asia. people falling into extreme poverty still exist. furthermore, based on the definition of " multidimensional poor, " which takes into consideration levels of education and health as well as living standards, the number of such poor people is globally 1. 5 billion, and about 60 percent of them live in asia. 9 in south asia, the number of the multidimensional poor is disproportionately large relative to its population. wide - ranging measures are beneficial for poverty alleviation. for example, providing the poor with education and employment opportunities has the potential to interrupt the vicious cycle of poverty. when poor parents cannot afford to provide their children with education, their children in turn grow up to be uneducated workers with the great risk of becoming poor parents themselves. breaking such a negative cycle enables the accumulation of human capital, thereby strengthening the potential for economic growth in the long run. a precondition of breaking this cycle of poverty is to push poor parents to recognize that the future benefits of enabling their children to receive education are significant, and that they will far surpass any immediate profit from using their labor in housework and part - time jobs. iii. contributions of financial inclusion among a wide range of poverty - reducing polices, i would like today to focus on policies which promote financial inclusion. according to the consultative group to assist the poor housed at the world bank, " financial inclusion means that households and businesses have access and can effectively use appropriate financial services. such services must be provided responsibly and sustainably, in a well regulated environment. " the g20 has been keen to data for south east asia consist of those for indonesia, the philippines, and thailand. the headcount ratios in this paragraph are calculated using the world bank's poverty and equity database. the source of the figures on multidimensional poor is the united nations development programme's human development report 2016 : human development for everyone. advance financial inclusion with the dual aims of benefiting the poor and activating smaller businesses. regarding financial inclusion for individuals, many poor people engage in financial activities in their daily lives, such as