today, within the limited time provided, i would like to introduce particularly important measures ( chart 11 ). first, the bank decided to strengthen its commitment to achieving 2 percent inflation by introducing forward guidance for policy rates. you may not be familiar with the term, but forward guidance is a measure that guides the future policy path in order to strengthen market confidence and expectations toward monetary policy. at the latest mpm, the bank publicly committed to " maintain the current extremely low levels of short - and long - term interest rates for an extended period of time, taking into account uncertainties regarding economic activity and prices including the effects of the consumption tax hike scheduled to take place in october 2019. " i would like to reiterate that, even though the projected timing of reaching 2 percent inflation has been delayed, the bank will not reduce the degree of monetary easing. second, the bank decided to implement several measures to enhance the sustainability of " qqe with yield curve control. " for example, while the target level of 10 - year jgb yields is around zero percent, as i mentioned earlier, the bank made it clear that, under the target, the long - term yields might move upward and downward to some extent mainly depending on developments in economic activity and prices. recently, there is a growing concern in the jgb market that the market functioning has been deteriorating, with the long - term yields being somewhat stuck and the transaction volume being on a declining trend, although this can be regarded in a sense as the consequence of powerful monetary easing. in continuing with monetary easing, the bank judged it necessary to allow the long - term yields to move upward and downward to some extent mainly depending on developments in economic activity and prices, thereby maintaining the market functioning so as not to create more concern. however, the target level of the long - term yields remains at around zero percent. in case of a rapid increase in the yields, the bank will purchase jgbs promptly and appropriately. the bank does not expect the level of yields ratcheting up. in addition, as for etf purchases, from the same aspect of enhancing the sustainability of the current monetary policy framework, the bank made it clear that it might increase or decrease the amount of purchases depending on market conditions, while maintaining the annual pace of increase at about 6 trillion yen. the aim of these policy measures is to strengthen the sustainability of the current powerful monetary easing, taking into account the side effects. the bank recognizes that the effects of monetary easing

on boj staff estimations. notes : 2. the cpi figures are adjusted for changes in the consumption tax rate. sources : bank of japan ; ministry of internal affairs and communications. chart 3 why is the bank aiming at 2 percent inflation? three reasons upward bias in the cpi buffer for monetary policy 2 percent as a global standard price stability in advanced economies country / region definition united states ( frb ) longer - run goal euro area ( ecb ) quantitative definition united kingdom ( boe ) target japan ( boj ) price stability target indicator numerical expression ( y / y chg. ) pce deflator 2 % hicp below, but close to, 2 % cpi 2 % cpi 2 % chart 4 firms'cautious wage - setting stance labor force participants wage increases seniors ( aged 65 and over ) women ( aged 15 - 64 ) y / y % chg. change from cy 2000, mil. persons change from cy 2000, mil. persons scheduled cash earnings ( full - time employees ) population labor force participants labor force participants hourly scheduled cash earnings ( part - time employees ) population - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 1 - 5 - 2 - 6 cy 00 - 2 16 cy00 notes : 1. q1 = march - may, q2 = june - august, q3 = september - november, q4 = december - february in the wage graph. wage figures from 2017 / q1 onward are based on existing respondents ( continuing observation ) following the sample revision of the monthly labour survey in january 2018. notes : 2. figures for labor force participants and population for 2018 are january - may averages on a seasonally adjusted basis. sources : ministry of health, labour and welfare ; ministry of internal affairs and communications. chart 5 households'tolerance of price rises di ( " favorable " - " unfavorable " ), % points - 70 tolerate price rises - 75 - 80 - 85 - 90 - 95 cy 07 note : comments on the rise in prices are chosen among three alternatives : " rather favorable, " " difficult to say, " and " rather unfavorable. " source : bank of japan, opinion survey on the general public's views and behavior. chart 6 firms'cautious price - setting stance labor - saving investment in sectors facing acute labor shortage software investment ( tankan ) employment conditions di ( tankan ) - 70 - 60 fy2005 = 100 reversed, di ( " excessive " - " insufficient " ), %