increase in exports of automobiles to the united states. meanwhile, as for private consumption, the number of new passengercar registrations for january declined slightly, while indicators of consumer sentiment, which had been relatively weak since 2014, have been bottoming out recently. with regard to prices, the year - on - year rate of increase in the consumer price index ( cpi ) for all items less fresh food, excluding the direct effects of the consumption tax hike, is around 0. 5 percent. the rate of increase has recently been slowing, mainly due to a fall in the prices of petroleum products caused by the decline in crude oil prices. on a basis excluding food and energy, the rate of increase in the cpi had been slowing marginally, mainly reflecting the weakness in consumption during the summer of 2014, but for december, it is unchanged from the previous month. 2. outlook japan ’ s economy is expected to continue its moderate recovery trend. on the price front, the year - on - year rate of increase in the cpi is likely to slow for the time being, reflecting the decline in energy prices. meanwhile, risks to the outlook include developments in the emerging and commodity - exporting economies, the prospects regarding the debt problem and the risk of low inflation rates being protracted in europe, and the pace of recovery in the u. s. economy. the bank compiles and releases the policy board members ’ forecasts for economic activity and prices on a quarterly basis. looking at the medians of the members ’ forecasts released in january 2015, the real gdp growth rate is projected to be minus 0. 5 percent for fiscal 2014, 2. 1 percent for fiscal 2015, and 1. 6 percent for fiscal 2016. the year - on - year rate of increase in the cpi ( all items less fresh food ), excluding the direct effects of the consumption tax hike, is projected to be 0. 9 percent for fiscal 2014, 1. 0 percent for fiscal 2015, and 2. 2 percent for fiscal 2016. compared with the forecasts made in october 2014, real gdp growth will likely be lower for fiscal 2014, but higher for fiscal 2015 and 2016, due mainly to the positive effects from the substantial decline in crude oil prices and the government ’ s economic measures. with regard to the cpi, the outlook for the underlying trend is unchanged ; the year - on - year rate of increase will likely be lower toward fiscal 2015, due to bis central bankers ’ speeches the significant decline in crude oil

the manifestation of this risk and to maintain the improving momentum of expectation formation, the bank decided on the expansion of qqe. b. enhancement of other fund - provisioning measures prior to the introduction of qqe, the bank established – on its balance sheet – the loan support program, with the aim of making the effect of monetary easing permeate the entire economy. the program consists of two measures – namely, the fund - provisioning measure to support strengthening the foundations for economic growth ( hereafter the growthsupporting funding facility ) and the fund - provisioning measure to stimulate bank lending bis central bankers ’ speeches ( hereafter the stimulating bank lending facility ) – and had been providing support for private financial institutions ’ efforts to these ends. in january 2015, the bank decided to extend the application period of the program by one year. it also decided, with regard to the growth - supporting funding facility, to increase the maximum amount of funds that it can provide to each financial institution from 1 trillion yen to 2 trillion yen, and also to increase the maximum amount outstanding of its fund - provisioning as a whole from 7 trillion yen to 10 trillion yen. moreover, the bank further enhanced the program by introducing a new framework for enabling financial institutions that do not have a current account at the bank to use the growth - supporting funding facility and the stimulating bank lending facility through their central organizations. the bank also decided, in january 2015, to extend the application period of the fundssupplying operation to support financial institutions in disaster areas affected by the great east japan earthquake by one year. through these enhancements of the existing measures, the bank will further promote financial institutions ’ lending, as well as stimulate firms ’ and households ’ demand for credit and continue to support the efforts of financial institutions in disaster areas toward rebuilding. c. financial conditions as i have described, the bank has been implementing large - scale monetary easing through various measures. in this situation, interest rates in financial markets have been hovering at extremely low levels. yields on 10 - year jgbs are currently in the range of 0. 3 – 0. 4 percent, although there have been relatively large fluctuations recently. while the u. s. dollar / yen rate has been moving within a narrow range of 115 – 120 yen, the nikkei 225 stock average has been in the range of 18, 000 – 19, 000 yen. financial conditions have continued to be accommodative. the average contract