As for the financial market, the outstanding balance of the current accounts at the Bank of Japan basically continues to move at around 15 trillion yen as the Bank continuously provides ample liquidity. Under these circumstances, in the short-term money markets, the overnight call rate, except for the temporary rise on September 30, continues to move at very close to zero percent.
Also, longer-term interest rates remain steady at low levels. Yields on long-term government bonds fluctuated and rose temporarily to around 1.3 percent in lateSeptember mainly due to uncertainty over the disposal of non-performing loans by banks, but declined again thereafter and are recently moving around 1.1-1.2 percent. Yield spreads between private bonds (bank bonds and corporate bonds) and government bonds remain virtually unchanged.