However, we should bear firmly in mind that the level of economic activity is still low, with the GDP remaining at slightly above 90 percent, according to the latest available figure of the April-June quarter, and the level of September industrial production remaining at slightly above 80 percent of that immediately before the failure of Lehman Brothers, respectively.
The Bank of Japan uses a somewhat cautious phrase that "Japan's economy has started to pick up" in expressing the current state of Japan's economy, and that reflects also the judgment with respect to the levels I have just mentioned. Let me turn to the outlook for the economy.