BOJ Keeps Economic View on 9 Regions Unchanged

July 9, 2018

Tokyo- The Bank of Japan kept its assessments of all nine regional economies unchanged in its latest quarterly regional economic report released Monday.

A "virtuous cycle from income to spending" has been maintained, the report said.

The economy in the Kinki western region has been "expanding moderately," although the effects of the powerful earthquake that hit northern Osaka Prefecture, part of Kinki, in June "have been observed in some industries."

At a news conference, Yasuhiro Yamada, manager of the BOJ's Osaka branch, said the earthquake "has not had a significant impact on the undertone of the economy."

Regarding the heavy rain in western regions, Yamada stressed the need to keep a close eye on its effect on the economy in terms of production and logistics.

In the latest report, adopted at a quarterly meeting of the BOJ's regional branch managers, six of nine regional economies were assessed as "expanding" or "expanding moderately," including the Hokuriku central and Kanto-Koshinetsu eastern regions, while the remaining three regional economies were assessed as "recovering" or "recovering moderately," the same as in the April report.

Regarding capital investment, the BOJ upgraded its assessments for the Tohoku northeastern, as well as the Kinki and Shikoku western regions, amid active investments in labor-saving technologies against the backdrop of a continued labor shortage.

The central bank downgraded its assessments on housing investment for Kanto-Koshinetsu, Shikoku and the Chugoku western region due to a fall in the number of apartment buildings being built.

On production, the BOJ upgraded its assessment only for the Hokuriku. The assessments on private consumption were left unchanged for all nine regions.

At the meeting, it was reported that automobile manufacturers are concerned about the future, given the protectionist trade policy measures being adopted by the United States. Jiji Press