MNI BRIEF: BOJ Keeps Recovery View, Ups Private Consumption

The Bank of Japan board on Friday left its overall economic assessment, saying the "economy has picked up as a trend, although some weakness has been seen in part, mainly due to the impact of Covid-19 and the rise in commodity prices.”

“Japan’s economy is likely to recover, with the impact of Covid-19 and supply-side constrains waning,” the BOJ said, leaving the view unchanged. But the BOJ upgraded its assessment on private consumption in the wake of a recent recovery. “Private consumption has picked up, particularly for services consumption, with the impact of Covid-19 waning.”

The BOJ tweaked its assessment on exports and production in the wake of recent weak moves that with exports and industrial production having continued to increase as a trend, “but the effects of supply-side constrains have intensified lately.”

“Business fixed investment has picked up, although weakness has been seen in some industries.”

"There remain extremely high uncertainties for Japan’s economy, including the course of Covid-19 at home and abroad and its impact, developments in the situation surrounding Ukraine, and developments in commodity prices and overseas economies.”

“In this situation, it is necessary to pay due attention to developments in financial and foreign exchange markets and their impact on Japan’s economic activity and prices,” the BOJ said.