Conduct of Monetary Policy Let me now turn to my basic view on the conduct of monetary policy for the immediate future, based on the economic and price developments I have just described. In view of Japan's present economic conditions, I consider it necessary for the Bank of Japan to persistently continue with monetary easing, primarily for two reasons.
The first reason is that Japan's economy is still on its way to recovery from the downturn brought about by the pandemic. Japan's real GDP was positive for three quarters in a row from the October-December quarter of 2021, but it turned negative in the July-September quarter of 2022, remaining below the 2019 average level (Chart 5).