MNI POLICY: BOJ Kuroda: Asia Must Address Growth Challenges

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday that Asia must address its challenges to improve inclusiveness and achieve sustainable, long-term economic growth.

"The key to achieving this goal is to work toward realizing an inclusive, green, and digital economy. While this will involve a great deal of time and effort, the rewards are expected to outweigh the costs," Kuroda said. He was speaking at the virtual 62nd annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

Kuroda said the road to achieving long-term economic growth was complementary to that leading to an inclusive, green, and digital economy and there was no trade off involved.

"Developing and emerging Asian economies will need to find effective means to enhance their healthcare and social security systems and to promote investment in human capital, including education," Kuroda said.

INCLUSIVENESS

These efforts will improve financial inclusiveness, and help decrease poverty, he said. "On the financial front, progress in financial inclusion is becoming more crucial to the promotion of economic growth and the alleviation of inequality," Kuroda added.

The pandemic has accelerated the move toward digitalization and it is important for governments and the private sector to collaborate to pursue digitalization initiatives focused on developing physical infrastructure as well as legal and regulatory frameworks, Kuroda said.

Turning to the economic recovery, Kuroda said the pace of improvement has remained moderate so far. "The spread of COVID-19 has not yet subsided globally, and many economies continue to be severely affected. A full-fledged recovery seems much further down the road," Kuroda said.

Kuroda didn't touch on the outlook for BOJ's monetary policy.