TOKYO--The Bank of Japan upgraded its overall assessment of the
economy in June, saying it has begun to recover moderately on the back
of reconstruction demand after last year's earthquake and tsunami.
"Japan's economic activity has started picking up moderately as
domestic demand remains firm, mainly supported by
reconstruction-related demand," the central bank said in its monthly
report, released Monday.
In May, the BOJ said that Japan's economy was "increasingly shifting
toward a pick-up phase," although it added that economic activity had
remained "more or less flat."
The central bank also upgraded in June its assessment of exports,
saying that they are showing signs of a picking up, and said that
production has started picking up moderately.
Private consumption in Japan has continued to strengthen on the back
of improved consumer sentiment, the central bank said.
But the BOJ sounded a note of caution, saying "there remains a high
degree of uncertainty in the global economy," and that particular
attention should be paid to "developments in global financial markets'
amid the European debt crisis.
The BOJ said that overseas economies have shown some improvement, even
though they have not emerged from a deceleration phase.
The BOJ's policy board on Friday voted to keep its monetary policy
unchanged, saying it will continue with its 70 trillion yen ($883.05
billion) asset purchase program--its main tool for monetary easing.
Write to Tatsuo Ito at tatsuo.ito@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 18, 2012 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)
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