Although economic indicators have shown mixed developments since the Bank released its projection, the Bank considers that they do not suggest a change in the mechanisms underlying the economy. The Bank will continue to confirm this by carefully assessing various relevant economic indicators as well as microeconomic information. Let me touch upon a few important factors in this regard.
The first factor is developments in overseas economies, especially the U.S. economy. The pace of U.S. economic growth has been decelerating recently due mainly to the decrease in housing investment. The advance estimates of real GDP for the July-September quarter increased at an annual rate of 1.6 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis.