In this situation, the number of foreign visitors to Japan has also increased noticeably. Moreover, households and firms, which have devoted their efforts to increase their savings, are expected to expand housing investment or business fixed investment in view of the decline in expected real interest rates and the improvement in their income and financial conditions.
2  Transparency issues  The second weakness that has become apparent in the financial system since last summer is a lack of transparency. Transparency is necessary for the identification of risks and for the assessment of their seriousness. It is essential for making market discipline to work. Transparency is also an important means of maintaining confidence among market participants under stress.