It should be noted that future pension accruals generally seem to be accorded a lower level of protection. 4  See Pew Center on the States (2010), The Trillion Dollar Gap: Underfunded State Retirement Systems and the Road to Reform (Washington: PCS, February).
C. Current Situation and Outlook for Japan's Economy I have described so far that Japan's economy has been on an improving trend since 2013 under the Bank's monetary easing. However, exports and production have been relatively weak since early this year amid growing concern about deceleration in overseas economies (Chart 7).