DHAKA: The Bank of Japan raised its economic assessment for three of Japan's nine regions in a quarterly report on Monday, signaling that the benefits of its stimulus program were broadening.

The central bank kept intact its optimistic assessment for the remaining six regions, stressing solid demand at home and overseas underpinning output and the job market.

‘All regions said their economies are either recovering or recovering moderately,’ the BOJ said in the report, issued at a quarterly meeting of the bank’s regional branch managers, reports The Straits Times.

It was the sixth straight month that the BOJ used the word ‘recovering’ in its assessment for all regions, underscoring its optimism over the outlook for the world’s third-largest economy.

‘Japan’s economy is likely to continue recover moderately as a trend,’ BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told the meeting, reiterating the bank’s resolve to keep its stimulus intact for as long as needed to achieve its 2 percent inflation target.

BDST: 1216 HRS, APR 13, 2015
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