At that time, Japan’s economy was still in the booming mood. Although the stock market had peaked out already, property valuations still continued to rise. Looking back, I cannot help but think that the Governor was very prescient because it was a few years later that the initial signs of financial instability came to the surface.
To fulfill the fresh mandate given by the Governor, my boss and I went on a two-week tour to the US and Europe to learn how foreign central banks and supervisory authorities handled the past financial crises in their jurisdictions.