haruhiko kuroda : the bank's semiannual report on currency and monetary control statement by mr haruhiko kuroda, governor of the bank of japan, before the committee on financial affairs, house of councillors, tokyo, 19 november 2019. * * * introduction the bank of japan submits to the diet its semiannual report on currency and monetary control every june and december. i am pleased to have this opportunity today to talk about developments in japan ’ s economy and present an overall review of the bank ’ s conduct of monetary policy. i. economic and financial developments in japan i will first explain economic and financial developments in japan. japan ’ s economy has been on a moderate expanding trend, with a virtuous cycle from income to spending operating, although exports, production, and business sentiment have continued to be affected by the slowdown in overseas economies. looking at this in more detail, japan ’ s exports have continued to show some weakness amid continuing slowdowns in overseas economies. on the other hand, domestic demand has increased. specifically, with corporate profits staying at high levels on the whole, business fixed investment has continued on an increasing trend. private consumption has been increasing moderately, albeit with fluctuations due to such effects as of the consumption tax hike. as for the outlook, japan ’ s economy is likely to continue on an expanding trend, as the impact of the slowdown in overseas economies on domestic demand is expected to be limited, although the economy is likely to continue to be affected by the slowdown for the time being. on the price front, the year - on - year rate of change in the consumer price index ( cpi ) has been positive but has continued to show relatively weak developments compared to the economic expansion and tight labor market conditions. with regard to the outlook, although the year - onyear rate of change in the cpi is expected to be affected by such factors as the decline in crude oil prices for the time being, medium - to long - term inflation expectations are projected to rise with the output gap remaining positive. thus, as the momentum toward achieving the price stability target is maintained, the year - on - year rate of change in the cpi is likely to increase gradually toward 2 percent. ii. conduct of monetary policy next, i will explain the bank ’ s conduct of monetary policy. the bank has been conducting powerful monetary easing under the framework of “ quantitative and qualitative monetary easing ( qqe ) with yield curve control.

. about two years ago, most of our countries concluded the second phase of the general data dissemination system ( gdds ) project which was aimed at improving the availability and quality of data, in developing countries. this was important in order to conform to international standards. some of the major achievements of the monetary module of this project include the correct classification of key financial assets and liabilities and sectorization of transactions for the main deposit taking institutions in our financial sectors. the end result was the compilation and filing of standard reports by most of the eac countries with the imf statistics department. bis central bankers ’ speeches again i recall that towards the end of last year, the imf approached most of our countries to consider joining the enhanced data dissemination initiative ( eddi ). the focus of the eddi is to consolidate the gains realized under the gdds while expanding the institutional coverage in statistical compilation to include other deposit taking institutions such as saccos and microfinance ; and other key financial sector institutions such as pension funds and insurance companies. i am aware that the work plans were prepared during the first eddi workshop in kampala and the imf has identified technical experts for each of our countries. this workshop is therefore part of the greater plan towards the improvement of statistics in the region by the imf. i wish to sincerely thank the imf for these initiatives. it is only appropriate at this juncture to recognize, ladies and gentlemen, the critical role that the eac secretariat has played in providing an elaborate roadmap on how statistical harmonization can be achieved within the eac region. however, for this to succeed, an appropriate mechanism, in terms of institutional arrangements and legal frameworks, has to be put in place to guard and guide the production of harmonized and quality statistics in the eac partner states and more importantly, at the regional level. these statistics will inform policy formulation and implementation in the integration process. all countries have their own data collection, storage and processing centres. it is a question of how we can pick the important aspects from our own areas for use, standardization and centralization. ladies and gentlemen, in concluding my remarks, i welcome you once again to kenya and to this workshop. though the duration of the workshop is short, please find time to visit some of our beautiful sceneries around town and sample what the city of nairobi has to offer. it is now my pleasure and humble duty to declare this workshop officially open. thank you. bis central bankers ’