Last month, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy decided to adopt “Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Structural Reform 2003” (the so-called third main reform guidelines). I think it vital to accelerate the implementation of reform measures while taking account of these guidelines.
In the right panel, "Diffusion index" is defined as the share of increasing items minus that of decreasing items. Sources: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, "Consumer Price Index"; Bank of Japan, "Measures of Underlying Inflation."