To be more precise, while the declining trend in productivity growth seems to have begun before the start of the bubble, this was masked by the temporary demand increase during the economic boom in the bubble period.
Excluding this, however, consumer prices have remained stable at a level slightly above that of the previous year. Monetary aggregates, measured in terms of year-to-year growth of M2 + CDs average outstanding, declined somewhat in October to 2.7 per cent. Regarding money market rates, the overnight call rate (uncollateralized) has moved at a level slightly below the official discount rate.