goods, and geopolitical factors and oil prices. in these circumstances, the recent weakness in domestic stock prices and its potential adverse effects on the financial system and the economy should be monitored carefully. on the price front, import prices are declining mainly due to the u. s. dollar ’ s depreciation against the yen from spring toward summer, but international commodity prices including crude oil have recently risen. domestic wholesale prices have weakened, reflecting the decrease in import prices to date. moreover, consumer prices remain on a gradual downtrend and corporate services prices continue to decline. as for the conditions surrounding price developments, the balance between supply and demand is expected to keep exerting downward pressure on prices for a while amid persistently weak domestic demand, although the completion of inventory adjustment and the rise in capacity utilization rates will support prices to some degree. moreover, factors such as the ongoing technological innovations in machinery, deregulation, and the streamlining of distribution channels will continue to restrain prices. this report is based on data and information available at the time of the bank of japan monetary policy meeting held on september 17 and 18, 2002. the bank ’ s view of recent economic and financial developments, determined by the policy board at the monetary policy meeting held on september 17 and 18 as the basis for monetary policy decisions. under these circumstances, domestic wholesale prices are projected to continue to be weak for a while. consumer prices are expected to stay on a declining trend for the time being at the current gradual pace. while the slower growth in imports of consumer goods is expected to alleviate the downward pressure on prices to some extent, the faster pace of decline in wages may possibly reinforce the ongoing decline in prices, especially for services prices. as for the financial market, the outstanding balance of the current accounts at the bank of japan is moving around 15 trillion yen as the bank continues to provide ample liquidity. under these circumstances, in the short - term money markets, more market participants have come to feel that there is an excess of liquidity in the market and the overnight call rate continues to move at very close to zero percent. also, longer - term interest rates are declining. yields on long - term government bonds followed a downtrend in line with a decline in yields on overseas long - term government bonds and in domestic and overseas stock prices, in addition to widespread perceptions among market participants that there is an excess of liquidity. yield spreads between private bonds ( bank bonds and corporate bonds ) and government bonds

mario draghi : hearing at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament introductory statement by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, before the hearing at the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the european parliament, brussels, 23 september 2015. * * * mr chairman, honourable members of the economic and monetary affairs committee, ladies and gentlemen, during the summer break, our union faced exceptional challenges. first, there was the long and complicated discussion on the new adjustment programme for greece. and now, in an area very much outside the ecb ’ s competence, there is the challenge of harbouring a large number of refugees that had to leave their homes behind. both these events – although very different in nature – have shown again that europe can only be strong if it acts in unity on the basis of solidarity and cooperation. this is a lesson we should draw also for the challenges to come. in my remarks today, i would like to discuss two main topics : first, our assessment of the latest economic developments and its implications for our monetary policy stance ; second, the proposals my colleagues and i presented in the five presidents ’ report. economic developments and monetary policy turning to the first topic, let me give you an overview of the economic developments since the last hearing in june. over the summer, industrial production and other indicators of economic activity showed signs of resilience. at the same time, the macroeconomic environment has become more challenging. our september macroeconomic projections indicated a weaker economic recovery and a slower increase in inflation rates than we had expected earlier this year. the inflation rate will remain close to zero in the very near term, before rising again towards the end of the year. it will take somewhat longer than previously anticipated for it to converge back to and stabilise around levels that we consider sufficiently close to 2 %. slowing growth in emerging market economies, a stronger euro and the fall in oil prices and in commodity prices more generally are the main causes for these developments. as a result, renewed downside risks to the outlook for growth and inflation have emerged. for many of these changes, it is too early to judge with sufficient confidence whether they will cause lasting slippage from the trajectory that we initially expected inflation to follow when we decided to expand our asset purchase programme in january. more time is needed to determine in particular whether the loss of growth momentum in emerging markets is of a temporary or permanent nature and to assess the driving forces behind the drop in the international price