must be confirmed over a period of a few months. second, we need to be convinced that the future year - on - year rate of increase in the core cpi will not fall below zero percent. to be more specific, the majority of policy board members must forecast that the rate of increase in the core cpi will be above zero percent during the forecasting period. while these two conditions are necessary conditions, there might be cases in which even though the above conditions have been met, the bank might still deem it appropriate to continue quantitative easing. as a way to improve our communication with the market, we have introduced the following measures with particular emphasis on the timing and frequency of communication in conjunction with the clarification of our commitment. we decided to release an interim assessment of the state of the economy and prices in january and july. previously, the bank released its view of the “ standard scenario ” for the economy after reviewing the outlook and risk assessment of the economy and prices twice a year, in april and october. now, in addition to these, the bank will discuss possible deviations from this standard scenario at monetary policy meetings and report the outcome of its discussion in the january and july monthly reports. the bank also decided to change the schedule for publishing its monthly report as well as to hold the governor's press conference on the same day as the monetary policy meetings. we hope that the clear and concrete commitment to continue quantitative easing will help the effects of monetary easing to permeate the economy more efficiently. we believe this will contribute to strengthening the foundation for a more sustainable economic recovery. some argue that such clarification of the bank's commitment may impair the flexibility with which it is able to conduct future monetary policy. for example, if market participants consider the bank's commitment to be too inflationary, this will cause the yield curve to steepen. it reflects not only the eventual increase in future short - term interest rates, but also the greater risk premium attached to concerns that a “ too - easy ” policy may be continued for “ too long. ” in this sense, the idea of policy commitment involves a delicate balancing act between securing the short - term economic recovery and achieving long - term sustainable growth. considering that deflation, though mild, is expected to continue under zero interest rates, i believe an unusual policy commitment, which is linked with a specific and observed economic indicator, is necessary in striking the best possible balance under the circumstances. to strengthen the policy commitment,

resources in the economy as a whole. undoubtedly, market improvements will lay an important groundwork for the future. moreover, considering that the intermediary function of financial institutions is far from perfect due to such factors as the burden of npls, it is an important problem that is worthwhile tackling from the viewpoint of further enhancing the effect of monetary easing as well as facilitating corporate funding. based on this thinking, the bank of japan, in cooperation with market participants, has made various grass - roots efforts to improve the market by refining master transaction contracts and trading practices as well as by compiling and publishing market - related statistics. furthermore, the bank chose abss as an instrument with important monetary policy implications, and will begin purchasing them shortly. we believe that because of their product characteristics, abss will play an important role in the future of financial and capital markets in japan. abss is a generic term for any product that comprises several types of bonds based on cash flows created by the most advanced financial engineering techniques from a pool of relatively small - lot obligations, such as loans and leases extended to small and medium - sized firms and the account receivables of these firms. by pooling the number of obligations, risk will be reduced. abss qualify in meeting the needs of investors with a variety of risk tolerance as securities can be issued in various combinations of high - risk, high - return and low - risk, low - return bonds. this product suits the current situation in japan. for example, financial institutions play a central role in originating these products, and the risk is borne directly by end - investors. in the case of japanese firms, small and medium - sized firms in particular, main banks and other similar financial institutions are in the best position to grasp funding needs. one of the characteristics of abss is that while banks originate these securities, the risk is shouldered by investors so that they are not susceptible to banks ’ risk - taking ability. by using their own networks and assessment ability, financial institutions will act as manufacturers and distributors by creating such products as abss and selling them. we thus believe that abss will be the best candidate to build a bridge from the current bank - centered system to next - generation financial and capital markets. in fostering the market for abss, the bank decided to shoulder the credit risk of private debt obligations by directly purchasing such securities. this is mainly because the market is still in an embryonic stage and hence there are very few participants willing to