receive cra credit for activities serving those areas. the updates related to native land areas provide needed clarity to recognize investment in native communities, but there are of course many native people who live outside of these areas. the final rule also includes provisions that can be used to recognize activities benefiting native individuals and communities outside of designated native land areas. community development activities that serve individuals and communities outside of the native land areas may qualify for cra consideration under another community development category. for example, a loan to a nonprofit organization focused on providing housing to low - or moderate - income urban native individuals could qualify as an affordable housing community development activity. another example would be loans or investments to facilitate community supportive services for low - or moderate - income individuals, such as childcare, education, workforce development and job training programs, health services programs, and housing services programs. another important part of the new rule establishes a community development category that includes cra credit for activities undertaken with cdfis, including native cdfis, 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches which are certified by the treasury department. with this update, the final rule provides clarity that a loan to a native cdfi - including one serving a native community outside of a native land area - would receive positive cra consideration. we know from research conducted by the center for indian country development that native cdfis play a key role in addressing capital and credit needs in indian country. these and other updates to the regulations implementing the cra open promising new opportunities for supporting community development activities in indian country. one objective of the final rule is that it provides greater transparency and consistency in application of the regulations. for example, the new regulations include a list of " impact and responsiveness review factors " designed to standardize the assessment of a bank's community development performance. this is an important change that will guide structured evaluation of banks'community development activities. finally, the definition of " native land area " in the final rule, coupled with data collection and reporting provisions regarding bank community development activities, will support greater transparency in how indian country is served, and provide stakeholders with a better understanding of the needs and opportunities for community development in these areas. in the years to come, we have an important responsibility to monitor and assess how well the updated cra regulations meet the needs of indian country. in our role as one of the cra's regulatory agencies, it will be critical that we continue to listen to and learn from your experiences. native

of the reduction in pricing power observed in this cycle should be reversed as firming demand enables businesses to take back large price discounts. though such an adjustment would tend to elevate price levels, underlying inflationary cost pressures should remain contained. a lack of pressures in labor markets and increases in productivity are holding labor costs in check, resulting in rising profit margins even with inflation remaining low. although energy - using companies will experience some profit pressures as recent increases in spot oil prices become imbedded in contracts, these effects should be limited unless oil prices increase appreciably further. to be sure, over time, the current accommodative stance of monetary policy is not likely to be consistent with maintaining price stability. but prospects for low inflation and inflation expectations in the period ahead mean that the federal reserve should have ample opportunity to adjust policy to keep inflation pressures contained once sustained, solid, economic expansion is in view. improved profit margins over time and more assured prospects for rising final demand would likely be accompanied by a decline in risk premiums from their current elevated levels toward a more normal range. with real rates of return on high - tech equipment still attractive, the lowering of risk premiums should be an additional spur to new investment. reports from businesses around the country suggest that the exploitation of available networking and other information technologies was only partially completed when the cyclical retrenchment of the past year began. many business managers still hold the view, according to a recent survey of purchasing managers, that less than half of currently available new and, presumably profitable, supply - chain technologies have been put into use. recent evidence suggests that a recovery in at least some forms of high - tech investment is under way. production of semiconductors, which in the past has been a leading indicator of computer production, turned up last fall. expenditures on computers rose at a double - digit annual rate in real terms in the fourth quarter. but investment expenditures in the communications sector, where overcapacity was substantial, as yet show few signs of increasing, and business investment in some other sectors, such as aircraft, hit by the drop in air travel, will presumably remain weak in 2002. on balance, the recovery this year in overall spending on business fixed investment is likely to be gradual. the u. s. economy has displayed a remarkable resilience over the past six months in the face of some very significant adverse shocks. but the strength of the economic expansion that is under way remains to be clarified