factors behind such weak developments. one is that the mindset and behavior based on the assumption that wages and prices will not increase easily have been deeply entrenched among firms and households, due mainly to the experience of prolonged low growth and deflation. the other is that the room to raise productivity and the technological progress have allowed firms to absorb a rise in labor costs by increasing labor - saving investment and streamlining their business process, and thereby constrain price rises. on the other hand, although the pace of improvement in prices has remained slow, some changes have been seen amid the improvement in the economic and employment conditions. for example, moves to raise sales prices are starting to be observed at a wide range of firms, mainly in the services sector. according to the tankan, the number of enterprises answering that the output prices have risen has been exceeding the number of those answering that such prices have fallen. also, with the aging of the population, labor market conditions are likely to tighten further and the pace of increase in hourly scheduled cash earnings of part - time employees is expected to accelerate. in addition to such moves, if full - time employees'wages increase with an improvement in productivity, this will lead to an increase in households'tolerance of price rises. while price developments are affected by various factors, i consider that the factor that determines the underlying trend in prices is the aggregate supply - demand balance. as the output gap remains positive, various factors behind the weak developments in prices will likely be resolved gradually. if that happens, firms'wage - and price - setting stance and households'tolerance of price rises will improve, and the pace of increase in inflation expectations will accelerate gradually. iii. conduct of monetary policy let me now turn to the bank's monetary policy. the bank has set the price stability target at 2 percent in terms of the year - on - year rate of change in the cpi and has been conducting monetary policy to achieve this target at the earliest possible time. to this end, the bank has been pursuing powerful monetary easing, considering developments in economic activity and prices, as well as financial conditions, under the framework of quantitative and qualitative monetary easing ( qqe ) with yield curve control introduced in september 2016. the bank, under this framework, has been conducting yield curve control, in which it controls short - and long - term interest rates. specifically, at present, according to the guideline for market operations, the bank sets the short - term policy interest

working long hours are common ; in my view, there is still considerable room to enhance work efficiency through such initiatives. the second is women's participation in the economy. in japan, the labor force participation rate of women in the working - age population has reached 70 percent, which is considered a high level on a global standard. i expect that this trend will encourage firms to assign more women to value - added work and promote them to managerial positions from now on. the third is employment of seniors. although their employment has been progressing, there remains considerable room for improvement, as there are gaps between what they can accomplish through their ability and will, and what they actually are assigned to do. the fourth is employment of foreigners. although their employment has been increasing gradually, it is still vital to further develop systems to accept them. lastly, the fifth example is labor - saving efforts through utilization of information technology including the use of robots. japan is a leading country in robotics, and i believe that we should expand its application from manufacturing operations to other kinds of work, including administrative work. as these initiatives toward structural reforms and a growth strategy bring about benefits including improvement in business efficiency, they may exert downward pressure on wage increases in the short term, but in the longer term, they will raise the productivity of the economy as a whole, thereby strengthening its growth potential. i believe that improving productivity would stimulate price rises through increases in wages and private consumption. nevertheless, even now there are firms that maintain their cautious wage - and price - setting stance, as they are concerned, for example, about a shrinking of the domestic market size and the issue of succession for businesses ; they also lack confidence in growth in private consumption. let me note that raising productivity and growth potential is a time - consuming task. therefore, while the bank's conduct of monetary policy stimulates aggregate demand and suitably tight supply - demand conditions are being maintained, a virtuous cycle in which active demand encourages progress in various initiatives should remain intact for a long period of time. i believe that, with a view to achieving its price stability target and realizing sustainable economic growth in a coordinated manner, the bank should continue with its monetary easing policy and firmly support the various initiatives taken by a wide range of entities.