The Bank has also been striving to ensure its own business continuity through, for example, setting up a disaster management team immediately after the quake occurred and making sure that the BOJ-NET is running as normal.
In addition, we should not ask too much of macroprudential policy: in the euro area, we have only just begun to develop its instruments and acquire initial experience of its efficacy. 3. The current banking environment  The low-interest-rate environment is placing a particular strain on credit institutions’ earnings prospects.