Japanese economy has begun to recover: central bank

Tokyo, May 23: Japan's central bank said Wednesday that it will continue pursuing its current stimulus program and that the country's economy "has begun to recover" thanks to a reversal in the decline of exports, which account for 40 percent of Japanese GDP.

"Domestic demand remains resilient due to the effects of the monetary relaxation measures" and the recently-approved stimulus policies, the Bank of Japan said in a statement.

After its monthly two-day meeting, the bank's monetary policy board agreed to keep buying public debt and high-risk securities with an eye toward doubling the monetary base over the next two years to end the deflation the country has been experiencing for almost 15 years.

The BOJ warned that there still exists "a high level of uncertainty regarding the risks facing the Japanese economy" due to the eurozone debt crisis and the rate of growth in the United States and the emerging economies.

However, the BOJ emphasized that business investment is stabilizing while "public investment has continued to increase".

In addition, "private consumption, in turn, has shown greater solidity thanks to an improvement in consumer confidence, and industrial production has stopped weakening and is showing ever more evident signs of recovery".

IANS