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"Japanese Economy and Monetary Policy" Guest Speaker: Mr. Toshikatsu Fukuma, Member of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan |
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According to Mr. Fukuma, the Bank of Japan has tried to improve the situation by among other things "Quantitative easing", i.e. by supplying more than enough liquidity to financial institutions.
 The balance sheet of Bank of Japan is now 124 trillion yen, almost 60 % higher than it was in 1998, and substantially higher that that of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the US Federal Reserve (FRB). Bank of Japan's balance sheet in ratio to the nominal GDP is 25 % when it is only 11 % at the ECB and 7 % at the FRB. Regarding coprorate management, Mr. Fukuma also gave some remarks. After the bubble burst in the early 1990's he coined, with his colleagues at Mitsui & Co. a phrase: "shrink to grow", which means that corporations have to be prepared to cut off unproductive branches to be able to grow in the future. According to Mr. Fukuma, in many Japanses corporations there is a strong internal resistance to do this, and to clean up their balance sheets. |
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The guest speaker flanked by FCCJ President Timo Varhama (left) and SCCJ Chairman Tommy Kullberg.
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The participants follow carefully the presentation.
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FCCJ members at the meeting, from left Tadashi Yano, Erik Ullners and Juha Markkanen
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The meeting in nice seettings at the International House was attended by 75 persons.
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Tommy Kullberg requests questions from the audience, right Swedish Ambassador Mikael Lindström.
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What did Mr. Varhama say? A box of solutions? Mr. Fukuma with the present from SCCJ.
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SCCJ Program Committee chairman Eiji Takagi introduces the speaker.
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