MNI POLICY: BOJ Kuroda: Virus Impact May Be Large; Act If Need

     TOKYO (MNI) - The impact from coronavirus on Japanese and global economies

may be large and the Bank of Japan stands ready to deal with any increase in

downside risk to price momentum, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Tuesday .

     Kuroda told lawmakers it was difficult to assess the impact right now, but

he said if economic activity was restricted in China, "supply chains for

manufacturers will be affected and tourists from China will fall."

     "Investors' sentiment has turned cautious and the BOJ is carefully

monitoring the impact on economic activities and prices as well as financial

markets. The BOJ stands ready to take the surest measures if needed," he said.

     "It is premature to say (that the BOJ will implement) additional easy

policy and what kinds of additional easing the BOJ would implement," the

Governor added.

     Kuroda added that he will exchange view on the impact of the coronavirus on

the global economy at international meetings.

     The Chinese economy accounts for about 18% of global economic growth

recently, up from about 4% in 2003 when the global economy was hit by the SARS

outbreak.

     Kuroda also said that he doesn't expect net purchases of Japanese

government bonds by the central bank to turn negative, although lower interest

rates globally continues to enable the BOJ to reduce the scale of JGB buying.

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

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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