The timing is drawing nearer for the Bank of Japan to abandon its zero-interest-rate policy, BOJ Gov. Masaru Hayami indicated Wednesday.
In a regular news conference, Hayami said that the nation's economic condition is improving, adding that it is getting closer to a point where "the dissipation of the threat of deflation is in sight" -- the BOJ's self-proclaimed prerequisite for raising interest rates.
Hayami said the 10 percent annualized growth in the nation's gross domestic product for the January-March period, announced last Friday, was "quite high." In response to the GDP announcement and recent government statistics, the bank has slightly upgraded its assessment of corporate investment in plants and equipment, he said.