Our interest rates are higher relative to the United States, relative to Europe, and money comes here to take advantage of the high rates, and that created an appreciation of the shekel – that has big effects for us. We cannot allow the interest rate gaps to get too large…So this is the world in which we live.
The total amount of the program was increased eight times from the initial 35 trillion yen to the current target of 101 trillion yen (to be completed by the end of 2013), as shown in Chart 9. During 2012, the program was expanded five times (February, April, September, October, and December).