amount of the program in february and april so that the amount outstanding of the program will reach about 70 trillion yen by the end of june 2013. the current amount outstanding of the program is 53 trillion yen. we are now in the process of increasing the amount outstanding of the program toward 70 trillion yen and the effects of monetary easing will strengthen in a continuous manner day after day as the process continues. in retrospect, the bank ’ s monetary policy stance since the lehman shock has been changing according to the state of japan ’ s economy. initially, inclusive of the lehman shock and the subsequent earthquake disaster, the policy stance was geared toward mitigating repeated downward pressure on economic activity and underpinning the economy. afterwards, japan ’ s economy gradually escaped from such shocks and reached a situation in which an outlook of returning to the sustainable growth path with price stability can be shown. the bis central bankers ’ speeches reason the bank strengthened monetary easing in february and april nevertheless was to, together with the cumulative effects of past monetary easing, further ensure the outlook to materialize. at present, while daily purchasing assets under the increased total amount of the program, the bank is deliberately examining the effects of monetary easing as well as the outlook and risks for economic activity and prices. of course, due to some shocks, when the outlook turns out to be weaker than expected or the risk associated with it intensifies, the bank will not hesitate to implement additional monetary easing. the bank will continue to strive for proper monetary policy conduct. as i mentioned earlier, to overcome deflation, in addition to the measures i have mentioned, efforts to strengthen growth potential by private firms, financial institutions, and also by the policy authorities will be necessary. in that regard, the bank has been implementing a “ fund - provisioning measure to support strengthening the foundations for economic growth, ” a measure extraordinary for a central bank. it is a measure for the bank to provide financial institutions making investments and loans that contribute to japan ’ s economic growth with long - term and low interest rate funds. the measure was introduced two years ago, expanded sequentially, and, in march 2012, small - lot investments and loans less than 10 million yen, which used to be not eligible, were made eligible for the bank ’ s support. in addition, the bank decided to provide u. s. dollar loans for financial institutions ’ investments and loans denominated in foreign currencies. as a result, at present, the total size of

the end of 2011, when there was an elevated sense of crisis. while those responses are essential as a first aid to stem the adverse feedback loop, it will not be a fundamental solution of the european debt problem. if one goes back to the cause of the problem in the peripheral countries, it is necessary for those countries to carry out drastic fiscal consolidation as well as economic structural reform toward strengthening their medium - to long - term growth potential. europe as a whole is also faced with a challenge that, while using a single currency “ euro, ” stability of the economies and financial systems can be achieved with each country ’ s fiscal policy and bank supervision remaining separate. while this might be a somewhat crude analogy, you might be able to understand the difficulty of the problem if you imagine a situation in which each local government totally independently carries out fiscal policy and bank supervision in japan where the same currency yen is used. having said that, the problem is an essentially fundamental one of how to draw a future picture of political, economic, and social integration in europe. given the size and complexity of the problem and difficulty in each country ’ s political decision making, we have to be prepared that it will take some time. on the other hand, markets request conclusions in haste. they will not wait. while such difference in time frames has been leading to jittery responses by the markets, at the same time it might bring forward the solution of the european debt problem. the policy authorities are aware that tepid measures, if announced, will immediately induce disappointment in the markets and will be pressed for further measures. the international community that will be affected substantially by the european debt problem has been increasingly keeping a close eye, and japan and many other countries have been requesting a swift solution of the problem at international conferences and other opportunities. above all, through past discussions, the common recognition of not to let the euro fall apart has nurtured in europe as a whole. given such a situation, while the path is still rough, i hope that there might be progress toward the solution of the european debt problem in the not so distant future. iii. fiscal problem and long - term interest rates : importance of efforts toward fiscal consolidation i have so far talked about the european debt problem. in relation to the problem, let me touch on japan ’ s fiscal condition and the recent developments in long - term interest rates before moving on to japan ’ s economic developments. the ratio of gross government debt outstanding to gdp in japan is now