The Bank of Japan on Thursday painted a cautiously optimistic view on consumption, and joined the government in voicing hope that next week's reopening of borders will boost inbound tourism and help the economy benefit from a weak yen.
In a quarterly report on regional economies, however, the central bank warned that some manufacturers were seeing overseas demand weaken, a sign lingering supply constraints and slowing global growth were dimming the outlook for exports.
"Manufacturers, mainly automakers, are suffering from unstable procurement of parts, which is hurting output and exports," said BOJ Nagoya branch manager Takeshi Nakajima, who oversees a region home to auto giant Toyota.