The Bank of Japan maintained its upbeat economic assessment for all nine regions of the country Monday and its governor voiced confidence that inflation will head toward his 2 percent target, suggesting that monetary policy will remain stable for the time being.
In a quarterly report on regional conditions, the central bank said all areas were either recovering or expanding thanks to robust overseas demand, a tightening job market and improving private consumption.
In its quarterly Sakura Report, the central bank said the economy in the Kanto-Koshinetsu area, which includes Tokyo, has been "expanding moderately." It said the same of the Kinki region, which includes Osaka, but added that the effects of a major earthquake last month have been observed in some industries.