involved in financial institutions ’ exposure to these firms. in light of this export environment, i have continued to regard developments in overseas economies and global financial markets as the most serious downside risks to japan ’ s economy. 5. developments in the underlying trend in inflation since the beginning of fiscal 2016, the year - on - year rate of change in retail prices of consumer goods – mainly processed food – has tended to shift downward. presumably, this is because at the beginning of the fiscal year, the price increases did not spread as much as in the past two years owing to ( 1 ) the depreciation of the yen having come to a pause, ( 2 ) private consumption having been sluggish, partly due to the effects of irregularly warm weather, and ( 3 ) the pace of wage increases having remained only moderate. under these circumstances, i expect that the year - on - year rates of change in the indicators of the underlying trend in prices, such as the cpi ( all items less fresh food and energy ) and the cpi ( all items less food and energy ), will decelerate somewhat over the next several months. moreover, i do not assume that the year - on - year rate of change in the cpi ( all items less fresh food ) will reach the price stability target of 2 percent by fiscal 2018, the last year of the projection period in the april 2016 outlook report. even so, as the expected decline in the underlying trend in inflation for the time being is largely attributable to the disappearance of temporary factors such as the depreciation of the yen, i expect that prices will generally stay stable. while the level of the underlying trend in inflation – represented by, for example, the year - on - year rate of change in the cpi ( all items less fresh food and energy ) – is lower than the price stability target of 2 percent, i do not believe that this is causing any particular problem for current economic activity because the rates do not deviate widely from firms ’ and households ’ medium - to long - term inflation expectations. ii. conduct of monetary policy the bank introduced quantitative and qualitative monetary easing ( qqe ) in april 2013 and then qqe with a negative interest rate in january 2016, with a view to achieving the price stability target of 2 percent in terms of the year - on - year rate of change in the cpi at the earliest possible time. against these decisions, i have been insisting on a change to q

cannot be embedded in goods and services that are in demand, then this human capital will have no value to the organization. i hope that this workshop will contribute for creating better environment for capacity building in all our countries in the region. also, it is my strong belief, that this meeting of the coordinators, apart from being useful for exchange of information in the process of prioritizing and creating the future visionary training programmes, will lead to strengthening of the regional cooperation among national authorities. let me finish my address by quoting mr. gary matthews, consultant with uk government ’ s investors in people, which i believe reflects the actual economic rationale of training and development of human capital : “ people are the only asset that appreciates, through training and development. all other assets depreciate ”. dear guests, i wish you a successful work and a pleasant stay! thank you.