hiroshi nakaso : japan ’ s economy and monetary policy speech by mr hiroshi nakaso, deputy governor of the bank of japan, at a meeting with business leaders, shizuoka, 23 july 2014. * * * introduction it is my pleasure to have the opportunity today to exchange views with administrative, financial, and business leaders in shizuoka prefecture. i would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude for your cooperation with the activities of the bank of japan ’ s shizuoka branch. in april last year, the bank of japan introduced quantitative and qualitative monetary easing ( qqe ) to achieve the price stability target of 2 percent at the earliest possible time, with a time horizon of about two years. more than one year has passed since the bank introduced qqe. japan ’ s economy has been on a path suggesting that the 2 percent price stability target will be achieved as expected, although we are only halfway there. today, before exchanging views with you, i would like to explain economic developments at home and abroad and give you my views on the outlook. i will then talk about the recent situation of and challenges for the financial system. lastly, i will talk about the economy in this region. i. current situation of and outlook for economic activity at home and abroad current situation of and outlook for overseas economies many of you might be interested in developments in overseas economies, since many manufacturing and exporting firms are clustered in shizuoka prefecture. therefore, let me start by talking about developments in overseas economies. overseas economies, particularly advanced economies such as the u. s. and european economies, have been recovering, although the economic performance of some emerging economies remains lackluster. as for the outlook, overseas economies are likely to continue their moderate recovery trend. the international monetary fund ( imf ) expects global economic growth to accelerate moderately to 3. 6 percent in 2014 and 3. 9 percent in 2015 ( chart 1 ). looking at individual countries or regions, the u. s. economy registered negative gdp growth in the january - march quarter due partly to the unusually severe winter weather. however, since spring, a number of economic indicators have rebounded, and the recovery trend in the u. s. economy, led mainly by private demand, has become more pronounced. looking ahead, given that downward pressure on the economy through fiscal austerity will diminish and accommodative financial conditions will be maintained, the pace of recovery

in pursuing qqe, it is essential to carefully examine regional economies, including the performance of small and medium - sized firms, through the bank ’ s nationwide branch network, including the bank ’ s shizuoka branch. in this respect, information that is kindly provided to us from industry and financial institutions in this region is invaluable. i would like to continue to seek your cooperation with respect to research and other activities of the shizuoka branch. i sincerely hope that the various initiatives in shizuoka prefecture will bear fruit and the region will enjoy further growth in the future. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches