that can be communicated using tablet pcs and smartphones today is incomparably greater than using clay tablets. our current evolution in ict is paving the way for ever - growing digitalized information to be swiftly collected, processed and communicated at ever - decreasing cost across space. the new icts have the potential to provide not only economies of scale but also economies of scope and hence give market power to those who successfully apply those technologies. as we learned from dutch history, the future shape of the financial industry will be significantly influenced by the contemporary evolution in ict, although it may be difficult to predict today what the future shape of the industry will be. this afternoon, we talked about how banks could harness the power of technology to drive sustainable growth. tomorrow, we will talk about how the financial sector will need to continue evolving to serve a transforming society. we will also talk about the implications of the evolution on the role of financial regulation and supervision. on the opportunities side, the evolution will open up immense possibilities for many individuals and firms to carry out a wide range of financial transactions across time and space. for example, it has strong potential to promote financial inclusion. a world bank report finds that 69 percent of adults had an account at a bank or mobile money provider in 2017, up from just 51 percent in 2011. it also reports that globally 1. 7 billion adults remain unbanked, yet two - thirds of them own a mobile phone that could help them access financial services. 8 a joint report from the center of financial inclusion at accion and the iif shows that the market for inclusive insurance is also vast and potentially profitable, based on the confluence of rising income in emerging markets and ict that is bringing down the cost of distributing insurance and measuring risks. 9 on the challenges side, the degree of market failures could be magnified by our current evolution in ict. we hear concerned voices that the current evolution could lead to concentration of data and resources in a small number of economic agents. the economies of scale and scope derived from the new icts could encourage greater reliance of core banking services on globally concentrated third - parties. this, in turn, could seriously complicate the existing principal - agent problem and magnify market failures. although the key role of financial regulation and supervision remains unchanged, we should leverage innovative technology in financial supervision. and we should continue to monitor and assess the impact of evolving market structures and of the evolution in ict on the nature of the market failures that need to be addressed

further at present, there is a concern that downward pressures on prices stemming from weak demand might intensify in coming months. on the supply side, a variety of elements are at work, e. g., technological innovation, increase in efficiency in the distribution system, and deregulation, all of which exert a downward pressure on prices. take domestic wholesale prices for example. declines in prices of electric equipments and other machines have been most pronounced under the influence of a very rapid technological innovation. for another example, declines in consumer prices have been accounted for in large part by imports and import competitive goods, e. g., clothing. let me hasten to add to it by saying that the bank of japan has never argued for so - called “ good price declines. ” instead, the bank has repeatedly said that the present price developments have been under the complex influence of both demand and supply elements, and therefore, no one can afford to understand on the basis of movements of price indices alone whether the ongoing price developments are consistent with sound developments in the economy. the issue of utmost importance is whether the current weak prices will invite declines in corporate profits and / or incomes of workers, leading to a deflationary spiral, or vicious cycle of economic recession and price declines. the bank of japan is of the view that japan ’ s economy has so far avoided such a deflationary spiral, but that because economic growth has recently weakened further as i mentioned a few minutes ago, the economy has entered the phase that warrants enhanced attention to price developments. 3. deliberation on monetary policy a. improvements in the way of liquidity provision and reduction in interest rates decisions of february 9 and february 28, 2001 now let me offer my thought about monetary policy on the basis of the economic and financial developments i have discussed. as you are well aware, the bank of japan decided at its monetary policy meeting of february 9, 2001 on both improvements in the way in which liquidity is provided to the market and a reduction in the official discount rate by 0. 15 percentage points. with respect to liquidity provision, we decided upon three specific measures : introduction of a lombard - type standby lending facility, active use of outright purchase operations of short - term government securities, and preparation for bill purchase operations at all offices of the bank. at the monetary policy meeting of february 28, 2001, the bank decided to reduce, by 0. 10 percentage points, both its target level of overnight call