january 17, 2019 bank of japan opening remarks at the g20 symposium in tokyo masayoshi amamiya deputy governor of the bank of japan good morning, g20 finance and central bank deputies, professors, and distinguished guests. welcome to tokyo. this year, japan assumes the g20 presidency for the first time. today's symposium is one of the kick - off events under japan's presidency. on behalf of the co - organizers, the bank of japan and the japanese ministry of finance, i would like to express our sincere gratitude for your participation in this symposium. as one of the medium - to long - term policy issues that will be discussed under japan's g20 presidency, we chose " aging and its policy implications. " the g20 had some opportunities in the past to discuss aging in the context of other policy issues such as growth strategies and global imbalances. this year, we have decided to focus on aging itself and discuss it in a comprehensive manner for two reasons. first, aging is a common policy challenge for all g20 members. currently, japan is the most aged country among the g20 membership. however, it is almost certain that in many other g20 countries, including emerging economies, the ratio of elderly people will increase in the future. aging and shrinking populations can have a huge impact on a country's economic activity and the distribution of its output. they also have a substantial impact on the flow of capital and labor between countries at different stages of aging. moreover, labor market conditions, social security systems, and economic policies are different across countries, and these affect each country's economic activity and social welfare in different ways. therefore, it is essential that we share our experiences and deepen our understanding of where the problem lies and how policies can address it. above all, since future demographic changes can be predicted with some degree of certainty, we can prepare policy responses to their medium - to long - term trends in advance through constructive discussion. the second reason for our focus on aging is that its impact on the economy will differ depending on policy responses. aging is an important risk factor for the economy in that it can negatively affect future economic activity. however, given the appropriate policy responses, it can also have a positive impact on the economy. in the first place, longevity is surely to everyone's benefit. the fact that we can live longer in good health has been achieved through human endeavor in fields such as medical technology and in the spread of education

three out of ten years. due to this fluctuation risk, but mainly because of the currency reserves required for the conduct of monetary policy, the national bank has to rely on adequate provisions. part of the earnings are to be allocated to provisions in order to enable these to grow in step with the swiss economy. the remainder is available for distribution to the confederation and the cantons. currently, the provisions are well funded. due in part to the high yields on foreign exchange reserves in the last few years, provisions exceeded the level aimed at by around sfr 13 billion at the end of 2001. this cushion makes it possible to increase the distribution to the confederation and the cantons over the next eleven years as agreed. with a view to the future, various decisions relating to investment strategy are beginning to take shape, aside from the transfer of the free assets. based on the consultation procedure it is becoming clear that the revision of the national bank law will again extend the leeway for investment. particular attention is devoted to corporate bonds, a significant investment segment. moreover, it must be examined whether and to what extent equities can improve the risk / return features of monetary assets in a meaningful way. in addition, the allocation of monetary assets to the various investment sectors must be optimised on an ongoing basis. such questions are studied and clarified internally. table 1 structure of the snb's assets ( may 2002, in chf billions ) monetary assets foreign exchange reserves reserve position in the imf gold holdings swiss franc securities claims from repo transactions ( net ) total monetary assets free assets gold holdings investments total graph 1