of the fund - provisioning measure is as follows : ( 1 ) the total amount of loans shall not exceed 3 trillion yen ; ( 2 ) the total amount of loans to each counterparty shall not exceed 150 billion yen ; and ( 3 ) the last disbursement of new loans shall take place by june 30, 2012. the bank is aware that it is not possible to raise japan ’ s growth potential solely through this fund - provisioning measure. rather, the aim is for the measure to act as a catalyst to bring about a shared awareness among financial institutions and firms on the need to raise japan ’ s growth potential and to make various efforts of their own accord to raise the potential economic growth rate and productivity. on march 7, 2011, the bank will carry out the third new loan disbursement under the fund - provisioning measure to support strengthening the foundations for economic growth, and the total outstanding balance is expected to exceed 2 trillion yen as of march 7. the number of borrower financial institutions11 has increased to 149 as of the end of february 2011, and the breakdown of these institutions reveals that loans will be provided to various types of institutions across wide regions. individual investments and loans under the measure cover all of the 18 areas suggested by the bank as possible investment areas, with investment in “ environment and energy business ” in the lead. in this context, what has particularly caught my attention is that a large number of financial institutions, on participating in the bank ’ s disbursement of loans, started to actively make a range of efforts such as establishing new dedicated funds and lending schemes for investments and loans to support strengthening the foundations for economic growth. the bank believes that this situation suggests that the bank ’ s measure is producing positive effects as a catalyst, its intended purpose. b. future monetary policy conduct and communication in order for japan ’ s economy to overcome deflation and return to a sustainable growth path with price stability, i believe it is important for the bank to steadily continue to carry out the measures i mentioned earlier. in addition, the bank will continue to carefully examine new economic data and information, so that appropriate policy measures can be taken flexibly if the probability rises of a significant deterioration in the outlook for economic activity and prices or it becomes uncertain that japan is on the road to overcoming deflation. in order for these measures to be fully effective, it is vital that they are properly and widely understood by the public. to this end, the bank holds meetings

covid - 19 but also for various reasons, such as an increase in working capital due, for example, to higher raw material prices. from the viewpoint of meeting such a wide range of financing needs, the bank decided that fund - provisioning under the funds - supplying operations against pooled collateral, which previously had been limited to a bi - weekly basis and up to a maximum of 2 trillion yen, will be conducted without an upper limit. these operations are the most versatile among the bank's various market operations, as it accepts various types of collateral for them. japan's financial conditions have been accommodative on the whole ( chart 13 ). although the impact of covid - 19 has remained in some segments of small and medium - sized firms in particular, financial positions, including of these firms, have been on an improving trend. demand for the special operations to facilitate financing has declined. the bank will firmly maintain accommodative financial conditions for businesses by shifting its focus to meet a wide range of financing needs while gradually scaling back the role of acute crisis measures, such as the special operations to facilitate financing, depending on the circumstances. conclusion today, i have talked about developments in japan's economic activity and prices and about the bank's conduct of monetary policy. as we successively face various risks, such as the pandemic and heightened geopolitical risks, japan's economic society as a whole needs to flexibly respond to them and take this opportunity to grow. specifically, in a society where the population is declining, the urgent issue is " investment in people " - - which includes increasing wages, supporting upskilling, and promoting diverse working styles - - as well as improvement in productivity through, for example, digital transformation. although i do not have time to go into detail today, it is also necessary to address climate change, which is a social issue that should be considered from a longer - term perspective. needless to say, the driver of medium - to long - term economic growth is the private sector's various efforts toward improving growth potential. the bank will continue to firmly support your efforts from the financial side by maintaining a favorable macroeconomic environment. thank you very much for your attention. japan's economy and monetary policy speech at a meeting with business leaders in osaka september 26, 2022 kuroda haruhiko governor of the bank of japan introduction i. economic developments ii. price developments iii. the bank's conduct