BOJ Keeps Economic Views Unchanged for All 9 Regions

Tokyo, Jan. 8 (Jiji Press)–The Bank of Japan in a quarterly report released Thursday kept its economic views unchanged from October for all nine regions in the country. The January regional economic report was adopted at a BOJ branch manager meeting held at the central bank’s headquarters in Tokyo the same day. It is the first time since July that assessments have been left unchanged for all regions. There had been anxiety about the impact on consumption from the Chinese government’s call for the country’s citizens to refrain from visiting Japan following a remark by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November regarding a possible contingency over Taiwan. The impact has so far been limited, the latest report showed. Still, concern about a future expansion in the negative impact was raised mainly by the accommodation industry. According to the report, the economy has been “recovering moderately” in five regions, “on a moderate recovery trend” in one region, “picking up” in one region and “picking up moderately” in two regions. The BOJ raised its views on corporate capital spending and production for the Hokuriku central region on the back of robust artificial intelligence-related demand. Meanwhile, the assessment on housing investment was lowered for Hokuriku and the Kyushu-Okinawa region in southern Japan, reflecting drops in housing starts. At a press conference on the day, Hiroshi Kamiguchi, head of the BOJ’s branch in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, said that high U.S. tariffs under President Donald Trump have “negatively impacted corporate profits” but “had no major impact on the real economy so far.” According to the report, an industrial machinery manufacturer in Tokyo said that semiconductor-related investment is booming as uncertainty over Trump’s trade policy decreases. A construction company official in Kushiro, Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, said that capital investment is necessary to resolve the labor shortage, indicating business operators’ determination to bring about labor-saving and efficiency improvements. With this year’s “shunto” annual spring wage negotiations approaching, an official of a food service company in Nagoya said that further wage increases are expected, given strong business performance. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]