bank of japan ’ s march review of monetary and economic trends in japan bank of japan, monthly economic review, 18 / 3 / 97. a moderate economic recovery continues in japan as private demand shows increasing firmness. with respect to final demand, public - sector investment has decreased while net exports have continued on an increasing trend. housing investment has remained at a high level and business fixed investment is increasing steadily. a moderate recovery in personal consumption has continued on the whole, while passenger car sales have increased significantly. meanwhile, inventories on the whole are at appropriate levels. reflecting these developments, industrial production has shown a steady increase and labor conditions on the whole have continued to improve moderately. meanwhile, prices have stopped declining, and monetary aggregates have continued to grow at 3. 0 - 4. 0 per cent. with regard to personal consumption, sales at department stores and supermarkets are improving moderately, albeit with some fluctuations owing to such factors as weather conditions. outlays for travel have continued to increase. sales of electrical appliances are increasing on the whole, although the pace of growth in personal computers and cellular telephones has decelerated. passenger car sales have recorded buoyant two - digit growth year - toyear for five consecutive months since october 1996. among leading indicators of business fixed investment, machinery orders have increased steadily on average. they rose significantly in the fourth quarter 1996 and showed a marginal decline in january 1997 from the average of the fourth quarter. construction floor area has also continued to pick up moderately. with respect to housing investment, housing starts in terms of the seasonallyadjusted annual rate have continued to be at a high level, although they have decreased for three consecutive months owing to the reversal of the rise in demand ahead of the consumption tax rate hike. regarding public - sector investment, public works contracted showing developments in orders have decreased significantly since the end of 1996 compared to the high level recorded in the previous year, which reflected the large economic stimulus package. as for actual implementation of public works, with a time lag after orders, the seasonally - adjusted level of shipments of public - related goods increased until summer 1996, but has been decreasing since autumn 1996. real exports are on an increasing trend reflecting the moderate expansion of overseas economies and the effects of the yen ’ s depreciation since summer 1995. although real imports are increasing, reflecting such elements as the rise in domestic demand, the recent pace of increase has been moderate, a reflection of the depreciation of the

famous harry potter cannot exist without gringotts bank, which j. k. rowling describes as a multiple story white building with underground vaults that stretch to an unknown depth below the earth. economic and social development has constantly introduced innovations in the area of monetary systems, and also of banknotes and coins. the first banknotes were born as identical counter - values of the amounts of precious metals, mainly of gold, and they were explicitly guaranteed by the states and sovereigns for their gold parity. this characteristic is also found in the banknotes of the first period of the albanian state. the banknotes issued during this period are designated as “ gold franc ” implying their coverage with physical gold at a fixed and invariable rate. bis central bankers ’ speeches the further evolution of human societies and their economic and political systems introduced great innovations in the monetary area. the development of commercial banks, the credit system and central banks were crucial moments in the economic progress. central banks, as public institutions mandated to issue and circulate the currency, originate from earlier times. the first examples of central banks, closer to today ’ s perception of the central bank, date back to the 17th century in england or sweden. these institutions, originally with a clear commerce orientation, were responsible for the issue of currency and servicing the state needs with loans or lending for different purposes. the modern central bank originates from the 20th century, and the us fed served as a model for a number of other central banks. the attribution of the supervisory and regulatory functions of the banking system and the orientation of the central banks ’ mission in terms of economic objectives, like low inflation or stable economic growth, marks the starting point of central banks at their present form. the latter have played a primary role in the further progress of monetary systems. fixed - rate convertibility to physical metals was found problematic in the economic and monetary management. the great economic depression of 1929 – 1932 clearly showed that monetary policy, designed as an opportunity for public authorities to affect the amount of money in circulation and its price, or the interest rates, is a valuable instrument to mitigate economic fluctuations. beginning from the 20th century, the issued banknotes and coins lost their convertibility into gold at fixed and invariable rates. the issued currency, from this moment on also referred to as fiat money, derives its value from the state ’ s obligatory force. however, this is only half of the picture. the most important aspect determining the value of