The increase in substandard loans and past due instalments points to a further deterioration in the months to come. The priority use of the profits earned must be to strengthen banks’ capital bases. Credit In December the total stock of outstanding bank loans was 0.7 per cent lower than a year earlier.
The year-on-year rate of change in the CPI for all items less fresh food is likely to be slightly negative or about 0 percent for the time being, and increase toward 2 percent in the  4  second half of the projection period -- that is, through fiscal 2018. The following four points can be highlighted as the background to this outlook.