rate. later, they declined in reaction and recorded a level somewhat below 1. 5 million starts in both march and april 1997. regarding public - sector investment, the amount of public works contracted has recently picked up somewhat, owing to orders included in the supplementary budget for fiscal 1996. however, public - sector investment has followed a declining trend since spring 1996 when orders from the large economic stimulus package peaked. real exports are increasing, reflecting steady overseas demand and the yen ’ s depreciation to date. real imports have also continued to increase, owing to such elements as the rise in domestic demand. however, the pace of growth has been moderate against the background of significantly narrowing price differentials between japan and abroad. mirroring these developments in exports and imports, the real trade surplus has been rising since the second half of 1996. the nominal current - account surplus is also increasing, but the increase has remained moderate because of the rise in crude oil prices until early 1997 and also movements in the income account. industrial production posted high growth in the fourth quarter 1996 and the first quarter 1997, and, in the second quarter 1997 is expected to decrease in reaction to the surge in final demand prior to the consumption tax hike. supported by stimulative factors, however, such as the rebuilding of inventories which had declined at the end of march 1997 and the increase in exports, production has been firm and the decline so far has been small. labor market conditions have continued to improve moderately on the whole. although the unemployment rate remains at a high level and employment growth has been moderate, the growth in nominal wages has been on an increasing trend, reflecting the rise in production and corporate profits. prices rose in april 1997 reflecting the hike in the consumption tax. excluding this factor, however, they remained virtually unchanged on the whole. although downward pressure remains strong, including that from technological innovation in electrical machinery, domestic wholesale prices ( adjusted for seasonal electricity rates ) have remained virtually unchanged. this reflects the moderate improvement in domestic supply and demand conditions. the year - to - year declines in corporate service prices are narrowing steadily on the whole, partly owing to the improvement in supply and demand conditions, particularly in real estate and information service industries, although leasing charges continue to decline. consumer prices ( nationwide, excluding perishables ) overall are marginally above the previous year ’ s level mainly because year - to - year declines in goods prices have slowed. the growth in monetary aggregates, measured in terms of the year - to

building block for e - commerce, especially during the pandemic. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches digital finance can strengthen competition and the supply of innovative products and services. businesses in smaller countries can penetrate neighbouring and international markets and obtain financing for their innovative ideas. financial technology ( fintech ) ecosystems can function as incubators for cooperation between incumbents and start - ups, benefiting all participants across financial sectors and facilitating capital flows. the level of remote and ubiquitous access to services is unprecedented, as individuals and businesses use applications to access accounts in financial institutions which may be located in a different country. application stores of bigtech companies, such as apple and google, list financial tools for lending, trading or crowdfunding, often oblivious to where the companies offering the tools are established. lower demand for physical infrastructure reduces operating costs for financial entities, which may divert funding to new sources of revenue across borders, as well as to attracting talent to work remotely. remote work has become a norm for certain types of financial institutions, establishing a " digital nomad " culture. emerging economies may also benefit from digital finance. in certain cases, all it takes to access payments is an account with a mobile operator, serving even unbanked citizens across borders. stablecoins, crypto - currencies whose price is pegged to a reference asset ( such as the us dollar ), can offer several benefits such aslower - cost, safe, real - time, and more competitive payments compared to what is on offer today. finally, as we all know, a number of central banks are investigating the design and implementation of central bank digital currencies, cbdcs, in order to strengthen monetary sovereignty and enhance wholesale and retail payments based on central bank money. on the one hand, wholesale cbdc discussions revolve around upgrading existing central bank infrastructures in the settlement of interbank transfers and related wholesale transactions in central bank reserves, to make them safer and more efficient. on the other hand, retail cbdcs can enable individuals and businesses to hold central bank money and use it for payments, complementary to cash, while enabling traditional intermediaries to offer innovative new products built on cbdcs. in the future, cbdcs may even co - exist with stablecoins, like central bank money co - exists nowadays with commercial bank money. against this backdrop of innovative technologies combined with financial services to form what we call " digital finance ", regulators and supervisors are responsible