The effects of the disaster clearly spread beyond the disaster areas across the country in various forms. One example of this is the decline in operating rates of nuclear power plants. I am aware that, especially in the Kansai region, electricity supply and demand conditions are likely to be tight in the coming winter.
As for the Chinese economy, the effects of the authorities’ policy measures have started to emerge, including an increase in new lending and the bottoming out in housing prices, but future economic indicators need to be monitored carefully, since stagnation in the European economy has been spreading to the Chinese economy through trade and concern over an increase in inventories has not been dispelled.