The chart shows both stock prices and price-earnings ratios in Japan, the United States, and the euro area. The rise in stock prices in Japan is nowhere near as pronounced as in the United States, and the price-earnings ratio has not increased much, hovering at about 14.
16  Moreover, taking into account the Bank's April 2018 Financial System Report, it can be judged that no major imbalances have built up in asset markets as a whole, although some indicators such as stock prices, the real estate loans to GDP ratio, and the diffusion index of lending attitudes of financial institutions have recently been close to the upper threshold of their trend ranges reflecting the rapid pace of increase in these indicators.13 Needless to say, it is essential that the Bank continues to constantly monitor for signs of financial imbalances.