Haruhiko Kuroda: Overcoming labor shortages - prospects for sustainable economic growth

Speech by Mr Haruhiko Kuroda, Governor of the Bank of Japan, at the Meeting of Councillors of Nippon Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), Tokyo, 26 December 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

Introduction

It is a great honor to have this opportunity to address such a distinguished gathering of business leaders in Japan today.

The year has flown by, and 2018 is now just a week away. Today, to round off 2017, I would like to take a look back at this year's economic developments both at home and abroad, and elaborate on Japan's current economic recovery phase - the second longest in the post-war era - while making comparisons with past recovery phases, focusing in particular on labor shortages and firms' efforts to overcome them. I would then like to explain the Bank of Japan's conduct of monetary policy and close my speech by sharing my hopes for Japan's economy in the coming year.