However, the inflation rate is still at a low level, and this most probably will restrain the rate of increase in wages resulting from the wage negotiations between workers and management this coming spring. I therefore take the view that medium- to long-term inflation expectations will be more or less unchanged from the current level for the time being.
The third is the difference in the outlook for services prices. Administered prices and some services prices seem to be not particularly responsive to the changes in demand-supply conditions, and these prices continue to show dull responses even amid the tightening of labor market conditions.