Looking back, we must not forget  10  that the yen's appreciation served as a factor that triggered Japan's slip into prolonged deflation from the latter half of the 1990s, which in turn exacerbated the "lost two decades." I admit that the deflation was also driven by the impact of global structural changes -specifically, the rise of emerging economies.
Accordingly, I would like to take the opportunity this afternoon to speak about issues related to the new proposed regulatory regime for credit unions, which is expected to come into effect in the coming year.