with these points in mind, the bank intends to establish an effective disclosure system that makes the bank sufficiently accountable to the public. the bank has, to date, endeavored to explain as clearly as possible the basic thinking behind its monetary policy management at regular press conferences, before the diet, in publications, in speeches, and at various other opportunities. disclosure of the transcripts and the summaries of discussions of the policy board are added to these measures under the new law, and this will equip the bank of japan with means that go beyond global standards to ensure the transparency of monetary policy. we at the bank intend to make effective use of these means to win even greater public understanding of and confidence in the bank ’ s policy management. 4. relationship between the central bank and the government lastly, i would like to discuss the relationship between the bank of japan and the government. the new law allows government representatives to attend policy board meetings on monetary control matters and to express their views when necessary. it also grants the government representatives the right to make policy proposals regarding monetary control matters, including requests to postpone the board ’ s vote on policies. some suggest that these provisions will constrain the independence of the central bank. we at the bank, however, do not take that view. first of all, the monetary policy of the bank of japan is designed to contribute to the sound development of the national economy in conjunction with the economic policy of the government. the bank therefore needs to ensure adequate communication with the government in managing monetary policy, although the policy must be decided by the bank on its own responsibility and judgment. what is important is that the relationship between the bank and the government in the determination of monetary policy be clear and transparent, and therefore under the new system, the government ’ s views and the discussions and votes on government proposals will be disclosed in the summaries of discussions. in addition, although the government representatives have the right to “ request ” a postponement of the board ’ s vote, they do not have the right to “ instruct. ” whether to postpone the vote on policies as requested will be determined by a vote by the policy board. this new system is designed carefully from the viewpoint of ensuring the autonomy of the central bank in monetary policy management while also ensuring adequate communication between the bank and the government. we at the bank intend to establish a clear, transparent, and constructive relationship with the government to serve the purpose of the - 12 - new system

on the real economy - - was an acute disease, so to speak, so it was clear what solutions should be prescribed. meanwhile, the problem that has emerged recently can be described as a chronic disease, given that dollar - denominated debts built up by emerging economies, including china, and commodity - exporting economies during the period of monetary easing in the united states are coming to the fore again as a debt overhang issue since the start of a liftoff by the federal reserve. it will probably take a long time before this problem can be cured. looking back at developments in the world economy during the recent period, the annualized growth rate of the u. s. economy, which is the driving force of the world economy, was a low 0. 8 percent in the january - march quarter because of the sluggishness in industrial production accompanying the appreciation in the u. s. dollar and the decline in commodity prices and because of unfavorable weather conditions in the winter. according to the nowcast by regional bis central bankers ’ speeches federal reserve banks and other forecasts, the growth rate appears likely to be somewhat higher in the april - june quarter. however, the u. s. employment statistics for april, the latest month for which the data is available, showed a slight slowdown in employment after a period of firm growth. with the economic recovery phase about to enter its eighth year, the economic cycle is presumed to be gradually reaching maturity. therefore, at the beginning of the year, there were even voices of concern over a possible economic downturn. although such fears have proved unfounded, there is the risk that productivity growth will be sluggish as business fixed investment continues to lack momentum amid the prolonged slowdown in emerging and commodity - exporting economies. under these circumstances, i am paying attention to the risk that a squeeze on firms ’ profit margins may affect employment, income, and consumption if wages increase too rapidly relative to the productivity growth because of tight labor market conditions. meanwhile, the chinese economy is generally regaining stability despite a slight slowdown mainly in exports and production, as the effects of the economic stimulus measures taken by the authorities are apparently starting to appear. the exchange rate of the chinese yuan, which became a source of the instability in the global financial markets since last year, has recently stayed stable and the stock market is also in a state of calm. the somewhat moderate decline in the yuan ’ s effective exchange rate following the recent pause in the rise