Likewise, growth and productivity of the financial services sector are important in their own right as a contribution to overall economic activity. However, it is also the role of this sector to be at the service of the real economy, by channelling resources to the most productive investment opportunities, those that are most significant for the smooth functioning of the economy.
Such risk has, as I mentioned earlier, been subsided considerably. Rather, from now on, economic activity will depend on whether demand itself continues to increase steadily. In that regard, consumer sentiment, which recovered considerably compared with that immediately after the earthquake, has yet to recover completely.