As a result, the effective borrowing costs faced by banks, businesses and households are estimated to have fallen over the past year. This decline contrasts with the experience of most other developed countries. 7 In its upcoming Monetary Policy Report and in light of recent events, the Bank will revisit its current assumption that borrowing spreads will begin to narrow in 2009.
Given the role of exchanges and their relation to market liquidity, it is impressive that the world's first organized futures contracts -- which are similar to those currently traded on exchanges -- were already established in the 18th century at the Dojima Rice Exchange in Osaka.