in this direction for further easing of monetary conditions to support the economy. there are also still means to assist economic agents in making structural adjustments. one such policy is the fund - provisioning measure to support strengthening the foundation for economic growth ( growth foundation strengthening facility [ gfsf ] for short ) adopted by the bank of japan in june 2010. this measure, while not providing funds directly to non - financial borrowers, is intended to be a catalyst for financial institutions willing to lend to various private - sector initiatives that attempt to overcome structural headwinds and will enhance potential growth in the medium to long run. i believe the “ funding for lending ” scheme, which was recently announced by the bank of england and the u. k. treasury, has a similar purpose, and i am carefully following its outcome, although this and the bank of japan ’ s scheme will need a long time before they can show any concrete benefits. nishimura, k. g., and m. saito ( 2003 ), “ on alternatives to aggregate demand policy to revitalize the japanese economy ”, asian economic papers 2 : 3 ( 2004 ), pp. 87 – 126, especially pp. 118 – 123. bis central bankers ’ speeches so far, i have explained the formidable challenges now facing central banks. while monetary policy is not a panacea, as often stressed by governor shirakawa of the bank of japan and other prominent central bankers, it can usefully support efforts by economic agents. there are risks such as economic polarization leading to political polarization, as i mentioned before, which could prevent governments from implementing the necessary policies. that tail risk is significant. nevertheless, i am cautiously optimistic that what we are doing now will eventually lead to a better future, although there are going to be ups and downs along the way. in any case, enhanced cooperation between countries and regions is essential in achieving this goal, and i hope my presentation today had been one small step in this regard. thank you for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches bis central bankers ’ speeches

choice of the appropriate model applies. this question remains yet to be explored in full depth. we know that increasing attention is being 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches paid to the distributional effects of economic and other public policies. i would like to reiterate that, under such circumstances, monetary policy is not a tool that is well suited for dealing with inequality or polarization and that central banks should remain focused on the aggregate implications of their own policy decisions. at the same time, however, this does not mean that central banks are allowed to ignore the distributional effects of monetary policy, especially if the distributional effects have an aggregate impact. with this aim, central banks should be, and in fact are, open to learning about heterogeneous agent macroeconomics. these days, much progress has been made on this front in computational economics. central banks are keenly following the technical progress and will keep abreast with the pioneers on this front as well. iii. the way ahead we are now about to start the 23rd boj - imes conference, which has a history of more than a quarter - century. this year ’ s conference is organized so that discussions can revolve around the three major topics that i mentioned in these opening remarks. nearly ten years ago, professor maurice obstfeld, currently chief economist of the imf and then - honorary adviser to imes, in this room identified the boj - imes conference as “ a venue in which abstract monetary theory and practical policy questions can comfortably be discussed in full depth and side by side. ” i regard his remark as a great compliment to this conference. i am convinced that this year ’ s conference will produce further insights into more effective central bank policymaking, in a same manner as previous conferences. thank you. 1 bank of japan, “ comprehensive assessment : developments in economic activity and prices as well as policy effects since the introduction of quantitative and qualitative monetary easing ( qqe ), ” 2016. nishino, kousuke, hiroki yamamoto, jun kitahara, and takashi nagahata, “ supplementary paper series for the ‘ comprehensive assessment ’ ( 1 ) : developments in inflation expectations over the three years since the introduction of quantitative and qualitative monetary easing ( qqe ), ” bank of japan review, no. 2016 - e - 13, 2016. 2 fuhrer, jeffrey, “ the role of expectations in inflation dynamics, " international