It is a great honor to have this opportunity to address such a distinguished gathering of business leaders in Japan today. Last year in his speech at the Keidanren meeting, former Bank of Japan Governor Kuroda pointed out that we were "approaching a critical juncture in breaking out of the prolonged period of low inflation and low growth." Looking back on 2023, it was indeed a year that saw moves toward a transition. Japan's economy has turned to a moderate recovery, mainly reflecting the normalization of economic activity and a waning of supply-side constraints, and the output gap has improved to around 0 percent. ... (full story)