It remains yet to be seen whether such banks will be able to find strategic partners or fight increasingly stronger competition. At this stage of the banking sector development, strategic investors show interest in both purchasing existing banks and setting up new institutions based on greenfield licenses.
With regard to prices, import prices are rising, mainly reflecting the depreciation of the yen. Domestic wholesale prices are declining somewhat mainly due to the decrease in prices of electrical machinery. Consumer prices continue to be somewhat weak owing to the decline in prices of other imported products and their substitutes, despite the increase in prices of petroleum products.