Regional economies have continued to worsen in many parts of the country as personal consumption and capital investment have either remained sluggish or declined, Bank of Japan branch heads said April 20.
At the outset of a quarterly meeting of BOJ branch managers in Tokyo, central bank Gov. Masaru Hayami emphasized that the economy remains under strong downward pressure and that the BOJ will maintain its current easy monetary policy.
Eiichiro Kinoshita, manager of the BOJ's Osaka branch, told an afternoon news conference that the economic climate in Osaka, Wakayama and Nara prefectures is deteriorating with no indication of future improvement. "It is difficult to expect the economy will stop worsening during the first half of this year," Kinoshita said, adding, however, that such prospects do not discount the effects of the government's 16 trillion yen stimulus package.