turn of 2021, this shortage grew further, partly affected by natural disasters and a fire accident at a semiconductor factory in japan. then, through the summer, although the supply shortage that stemmed from the adverse incidents i just mentioned was being alleviated, the surge in covid - 19 cases in southeast asian countries in particular caused factory shutdowns ; thus, production not only of semiconductors but also of other automobile - related parts was suspended, resulting in the materialization of other types of supply - side constraints. the constraints not only have been seen in the automobile industry but also have begun to feed into the industries of other products, such as white goods, and this in turn has pushed down firms'exports and production ( charts 5 and 6 ). indeed, it was the unexpected surge in demand that severely tightened the supply - side constraints ; however, the contributing factors to the constraints are complex, including the stagnation of maritime logistics that stemmed from the malfunctioning of ports due to the spread of covid - 19 among longshore workers. moreover, it appears to me that there are growing uncertainties regarding prospects for the removal of supply - side constraints, as they depend on the future course of covid - 19. for now, i maintain the view that these supply - side constraints are temporary ; that said, i will carefully monitor future developments. b. prices 1. price developments abroad let me now turn to prices. inflation rates in the united states and european countries have been kept above 2 percent, the level at which their central banks aim ( chart 7 ). these upswings in inflation rates seem to be largely attributable to the increase in energy prices such as for crude oil and natural gas, in addition to the global supply - side constraints, which i just explained. moreover, particularly in the united states, those who had been temporarily out of the labor market following the outbreak of covid - 19 have been returning at a slower pace than expected ; therefore, labor supply has been lagging behind increased labor demand, and this in turn has been increasing the upward pressure on wages. nevertheless, regarding these rises in inflation rates in the united states and european countries, the current dominant view among their respective authorities is that, in terms of both the demand and supply sides, the rises reflect temporary factors associated with the pandemic, and thus the high inflation rates are quite unlikely to feed into medium - to longterm inflationary pressure, such as an increase in

time being prioritize stabilizing the entire yield curve at a low level under the continuing impact of covid ‐ 19 in particular etf and j ‐ reit purchases category i category * etfs ： about 12 tril. yen j ‐ reits ： about 180 bil. yen category ii iii financial system and bank examination dept. staff will make a briefing at the mpms when the outlook report is decided ( four times a year ). eligible fund ‐ provisioning measure • special operations in response to covid ‐ 19, when funds are provided against loans made by financial institutions on their own • special operations in response to covid ‐ 19, when funds are provided against loans other than those for category i and against private debt pledged as collateral • • loan support program operation to support financial institutions in disaster areas higher than the rate for category ii 0. 1 % purchase as necessary with upper limits * on the annual paces of increase, and maintain these limits even after covid ‐ 19 subsides purchase only etfs tracking the tokyo stock price index ( topix ) 0. 2 % absolute value of the short ‐ term policy interest rate 0 % lower than the rate for category ii ⇒ enable the bank to cut short ‐ and long ‐ term interest rates more nimbly while considering the impact on the functioning of financial intermediation in addition, adjustments to the complementary deposit facility will be made to narrow the gap between the actual policy ‐ rate balances and the " hypothetical " policy ‐ rate balances.