BOJ Kuroda: Sustainability Of Economic Expansion 'High'

     TOKYO (MNI) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Thursday that he

was upbeat on the outlook for Japan's economy, saying that the sustainability of

an  expansion led by both overseas and domestic demand was "high."

     "The current economic expansion is led by balanced overseas and domestic

demand, and its sustainability is high," Kuroda said at an annual meeting of

securities dealers.

     "The economic expansion is clearly spreading to regional economies," he

added.

     However, Kuroda repeated his prior view that consumer prices would remain

weak as "corporates and households see wages and prices will not rise easily."

     Kuroda said that prices could move higher in the future, with companies

facing difficulties in coping with upward pressure on wages, which in turn puts

pressure on company costs and thus prices. 

     "When corporate wage- and price-setting activity strengthens and price

rises expand, medium- to long-term inflation expectations would rise steadily

and consumer prices will likely move toward a 2% price stability target," Kuroda

said.

     He added that Japan is still far from achieving its 2% inflation target.

     As for monetary policy, Kuroda repeated the BOJ mantra that the BOJ

continues to patiently keep its easy policy in order to achieve the 2% price

target at the earliest possible time.

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

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