gri guidelines, a few indian banks are beginning to consider reporting on their non - financial parameters. in other international initiatives for sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and non - financial reporting also, the involvement of our banks, financial institutions, etc. is peripheral or at a very nascent stage. 16. for institutions in india ’ s financial and banking sector, one of the primary drivers of their involvement in activities in social and environmental spheres is their reputation and branding. this is fuelled by the fact that these institutions have high visibility in every business sector and industry. moreover, in emerging markets such as india, financing projects that focus on clean production, good corporate governance and sustainable energy are being increasingly identified as potential business opportunities for financial institutions. furthermore, many financial institutions are also actively publicising their philanthropic activities under the corporate social responsibility banner. all these initiatives point to the sector ’ s move toward financial institutions banking on their brand and reputation, to make a difference in the community in which they operate as well as, in their new risk management strategies that reflect the socio - environmental aspects of their investments. 17. there are many reasons for this change in mindset. foremost is the increasing globalization of business. as more indian companies expand internationally and acquire interests overseas, whilst at the same time, there is a rapid increase in foreign investment in bis central bankers ’ speeches indian corporates, demands on transparency from a more “ global audience ” have put pressure on indian companies to start reporting on sustainability issues. within india, there has also been a change in the mindset and attitudes of stakeholders on issues relating to environmental and social responsibility. recently, government faced public protests and pressure to refuse entry to foreign ships that were brought to india for decommissioning, as they contained large amounts of asbestos and other harmful substances. while the general public opinion on sustainability issues is still evolving, companies taking the first steps can expect intense public scrutiny, which again highlights the need for transparent reporting on operations. another significant push factor has been the role of government as a stakeholder. india has historically had stringent laws on labour, environment, health and safety. over the past few years the government has become increasingly proactive in addressing enforcement. intense media attention and scrutiny on corporate social responsibility has also led to companies taking more cognisance of their activities and engagement with stakeholders. reporting standards 18. while currently there are no officially recognized guidelines or reporting standards on sustainability reporting ( by accounting or regulatory bodies ), there has

orders of " rolling machines " ( i. e., railway vehicles ) and " motor vehicles " by the transportation industry. however, business fixed investment as a whole has picked up with improvement in corporate profits. a leading indicator shows that machinery investment has been supported not only by the manufacturing industry but also by investment related to base stations and 5g networks by the telecommunications industry, logistics facilities - related investment by the wholesale and retail trade industries, and digital - related investment by the construction industry. regarding construction investment, there has been an increase in construction of warehouses on the back of expansion in e - commerce and progress in urban redevelopment projects. in the bank of japan's march 2021 tankan ( short - term economic survey of enterprises in japan ), the plan for fiscal 2021 shows that business fixed investment is likely to increase by 2. 4 percent on a year - on - year basis, indicating relatively high growth compared with the past march tankan surveys. 1 the employment and income situation has remained weak due to the impact of covid - 19. with regard to the number of employed persons, while the number of regular employees has continued to increase moderately, mainly in the information and communications as well as the medical, healthcare, and welfare services industries, that of non - regular employees has decreased, mainly in the face - to - face services industry. in addition, the unemployment rate and the active job openings - to - applicants ratio have been more or less flat, albeit with fluctuations ( chart 5 ). as for wages, the year - on - year rate of change in non - scheduled cash earnings registered a negative figure due to a decline in hours worked, while winter bonuses in 2020 also saw a significant decline from the previous year. nevertheless, employee income is likely to bottom out and thereafter return to a moderate uptrend as the number of employed persons, non - scheduled cash earnings, and special cash earnings turn to an increase, reflecting a pick - up in economic activity and improvement in corporate profits. b. price developments let me now elaborate on price developments in japan. the year - on - year rate of change in the consumer price index ( cpi ) for all items less fresh food, or the core cpi, has been minus 0. 1 percent recently ( chart 6 ). since april, the negative contribution of a reduction in mobile phone charges has been somewhat significant. from a macroeconomic perspective, the output gap, which indicates the supply - demand balance, became significantly negative for the april -