By contrast, long-term rates have remained stable at a low level of around 0.6 percent in Japan despite the rise in long-term interest rates in other advanced economies (Chart 14). Therefore, real interest rates have been declining. Under such stimulative effects, Japan’s economy has been recovering moderately and the year-on-year rate of change in the CPI has turned positive.
Recent improvements in the inflation outcome and inflation outlook  Admittedly, the last three quarters have seen an encouraging improvement on the inflation front, despite the stickiness above the midpoint of the target band. The headline rate of inflation, which peaked at 6.7% in December 2016, fell to 4.6% in July 2017.