’ s policy measures, and ensuing developments in foreign exchange and stock markets, which offers a “ window of opportunity ” to build up economic entities ’ momentum to utilize the current situation. financial conditions are quite accommodative and the bank will continue to promote monetary easing aggressively. we are looking forward to positive actions by firms. for financial institutions that have contact with firms, while thoroughly knowing that they have been aggressively making efforts, we would like to ask the institutions to further make efforts to encourage firms ’ positive actions and to tap new fund demand. in that regard, the bank itself will provide support as a central bank as much as possible. at present, with a view to being a catalyst for firms and financial institutions to promote efforts toward strengthening growth potential, the bank has a framework of “ the fund - provisioning measure to support strengthening the foundations for economic growth. ” it is the framework in which the bank provides low interest rate and long - term funds to financial institutions providing loans to or investing in wide - ranging areas that contribute to the growth of japan ’ s economy, such as medical and nursing care, environment and energy, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and tourism. the bank has prepared 5. 5 trillion in a total amount of the framework and already about 4 trillion yen has been used. in addition, as i briefly mentioned earlier, last october, with the view to promoting financial institutions ’ aggressive action and helping increase proactive credit demand of firms and households, the bank introduced a new framework of “ stimulating bank lending facility. ” under the facility, in 15 months through end - march 2014, if financial institutions increase net lending, the bank will provide an unlimited amount of long - term funds at a low interest rate for the net increase. in thoroughly utilizing the accommodative financial conditions, the bank will continue to use its ingenuity, seeing whether there is anything that can be done further as a central bank. bis central bankers ’ speeches concluding remarks as time is running out, let me conclude my speech by touching on the economy of nagasaki prefecture. nagasaki prefecture, as a region that has been open to the world since ancient times, has played a major role in formulating japan ’ s culture and modernization as well as nurturing a unique regional culture. it is blessed with nature like beautiful coast lines as well as ample tourism resources such as hot springs and agricultural and marine products, receiving many tourists from home and abroad. as a move to further enhance the attractiveness of

already developed by the “ european committee for banking standards ( ecbs ) ” ( the international bank account number ( iban ) and the international payment instruction ( ipi ), for example ). the shortcomings of cross - border payments in terms of efficiency and costs become particularly evident, of course, in the processing of credit transfers within the euro area. after all, the use of the single currency means that national boundaries in payment systems should no longer play any role. from 2002, when the national banknotes and coins will be replaced by the new currency, this discrepancy will become even more obvious. even so, the problem also has a dimension which goes beyond europe, since cross - border payments are on a rising tendency worldwide in the wake of globalisation. therefore, at the end of this conference, allow me in my capacity as the chairman of the “ committee on payment and settlement systems ( cpss ) ” of the g10 central banks to cast a glance beyond europe ’ s frontiers. activities of the cpss the cpss is a platform of the g10 central banks for the monitoring and analysis of trends in domestic and cross - border payment and settlement systems and for coordinating their oversight function. the focus of the committee ’ s activities has always been on large - value payment systems. as a result of the major transactions executed through these systems, the credit and liquidity risks associated with the payments and the settlement can potentially lead to cross - system problems which jeopardize the stability of the financial system as a whole. moreover, efficient and secure large - value payment systems are indispensable for a functioning money market and hence ultimately also for an efficient implementation of monetary policy measures. the cpss has therefore been advocating the reduction of risks in payment and settlement systems for years. examples of this are the minimum standards for the design and operation of cross - border and multi - currency netting and settlement schemes, often called the lamfalussy criteria, and studies on the settlement risk of foreign exchange transactions. moreover, the committee is currently working on the formulation of “ core principles for systemically important payment systems ” which are intended to contribute to a reduction of risk, not only at the g10 level but also worldwide. why now does the cpss also concern itself with questions of retail payment systems where, owing to the lower transactions, considerations of risk are of minor importance? well, the central banks perceive their responsibility in this area too and they do so within their general