Particularly in view of the instability in the financial market that we have experienced from time to time since last year, we thought it necessary to restate the objective of monetary policy to secure market stability. In fact, since I referred to this objective in April, the downward trend has permeated from shorter to longer term interest rates. B.
Effects of the Zero Interest Rate Policy  Since April, the unsecured overnight call rate, the direct target of the Bank’s monetary policy operations, has remained stable at around 0.03 percent, or virtually at zero percent. Interest rates on longer terms have also declined sharply in the short-term money market.