In addition, issuance of corporate bonds has steadily increased and their spreads have remained flat at low levels on the whole. Lending by financial institutions has increased moderately, and the amount outstanding of bank lending grew at a relatively high rate of 2.1 percent year on year both in April and in May.
Some long-term fixed interest rates, such as fixed-rate mortgage and longterm prime lending rates, have risen somewhat lately. However, the amounts of mortgages and loans to the corporate sector have been growing and it appears that an adverse impact on economic activity has so far been avoided.