ensuring stability in financial markets through an ample provision of funds ; and ( 3 ) active purchases of assets such as etfs. these measures have had positive effects, coupled with the government ’ s responses and active efforts by financial institutions. global financial markets are still nervous, but tension has eased. although firms ’ financial positions have been weak, the environment for external funding, such as the issuance of cp and corporate bonds as well as bank borrowing, has remained accommodative. that said, there are high uncertainties over the outlook for economic activity and prices, and the bank recognizes that risks are skewed to the downside. as the spread of covid - 19 has not 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches subsided globally, the consequences of covid - 19 and the magnitude of their impact on domestic and overseas economies are highly unclear. in addition, the outlook is based on the premises that, while the impact of covid - 19 remains, growth expectations will not decline substantially and financial system stability will be maintained, but these premises also entail uncertainties. moreover, with regard to risks to the financial side from a somewhat long - term perspective, prolonged downward pressure on financial institutions ’ profits might lead to a gradual pullback in financial intermediation, given the existing factors — such as the prolonged low interest rate environment and the declining population — as well as the recent impact of covid - 19. on the other hand, under these circumstances, the vulnerability of the financial system could increase, mainly due to the search for yield behavior. these risks are judged as not significant at this point, mainly because financial institutions have sufficient capital bases. however, it is necessary to pay close attention to future developments. based on such recognition, the bank will continue to firmly conduct the current monetary easing measures and to support financing, mainly of firms, and maintain stability in financial markets. in addition, for the time being, it will closely monitor the impact of covid - 19 and will not hesitate to take additional easing measures if necessary. thank you. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches

as the creation of market - wide infrastructure for collateral management, as well as unifying the form of repo trades to the globally used repurchase agreement, are also discussed in the grand design, indicating that we can expect a strengthening of the global competitiveness of the jgb market and the expansion of related services. furthermore, when jgb outright transactions move to t + 1 settlement, it is envisaged that most repo transactions will move to t + 0 settlement. this warrants attention, as it also means the development of a new large money market for same day funds transactions. while i am very grateful for the stakeholders ’ unremitting efforts, we will continue to provide support toward achieving t + 1 settlement. conclusion let me conclude. when developing payment and settlement systems, it is essential to capture and analyze the needs and risks of those systems from broader perspectives. in addition, it is important to build an infrastructure from the medium - to long - term perspective due to the fact that it usually takes considerable time from developing plans to managing the operation. i explained earlier today the measures taken in europe for making use of financial edi by utilizing xml formats. in japan, the core payment and settlement systems – such as the boj - net, the zengin - system, and the system operated by the japan securities depository center ( jasdec ) – have already incorporated such formats. we expect that financial institutions participating in those systems will make effective use of the formats to enhance the quality of services they provide. in light of such circumstances, the fisc is expected to act as a “ catalyst of global knowledge, ” by collaborating with relevant parties in asia and the rest of the world, thereby steering the initiatives taken by financial institutions in our country. the fisc is also expected to play an important role in overcoming new challenges arising from information security, such as cyber - attacks. currently, high attention has been paid around the globe to the cyber resilience of payment and settlement systems. in this regard, the committee on payments and market infrastructures of the bank for international settlements published a report last month titled, “ cyber resilience in financial market infrastructures. ” as more and more security violations are being witnessed around the world, the serious influence of these is attracting much more attention, and new findings in terms of strategic decisions and technical options are being made. the fisc is again expected to play a key role in research, analysis, and public relations activities with