The Bank of Japan raised its economic assessment in seven of the country's nine regions as the export-led recovery begins to gain momentum even as deflation persists.
All local economies "had picked up, although there remained differences in the pace and extent of the recovery," the central bank said in its quarterly regional report Thursday. Shikoku and Kyushu-Okinawa kept their assessments unchanged, while the others saw an "upward change."
The report adds to signs that policymakers may raise estimates for economic growth and inflation in their semiannual outlook April 30. BOJ Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa told the regional chiefs that the risk of a return to a recession is "pretty much gone" and growth will gradually accelerate as the rebound, driven by overseas demand, spreads to households.