Today, in my remarks, I would first like to touch upon the history of cooperation among central banks in Asia, followed by an assessment of what has been achieved since the Asian Currency Crisis of the late 1990s, and how this helped Asia weather the shocks of the current global financial crisis.
Financial conditions in Japan are accommodative. In terms of interest rates, the overnight call rate has remained at an extremely low level, and firms’ funding costs have been hovering at low levels. With regard to credit supply, firms have continued to see financial institutions’ lending attitudes as being on an improving trend.