Today, I will focus on the Bank's view concerning future developments in economic activity and prices given the projection in the Outlook Report, and I will explain its future monetary policy conduct. I. Developments in the world economy I will first touch on developments in the world economy, which underlie developments in Japan's economy.
For instance, it is noteworthy that even as bank lending sustained double-digit growth, the quality of loans continues to improve, with non-performing loans dropping further to 2% in October last year, compared with over 18% in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.