(RTTNews) - Members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the country's economy has recovered moderately, although some signs of weakness persist, minutes from the central bank's June 13-14 meeting revealed on Monday.
Corporate profits continue to improve, while business fixed investment is also on a moderate upward trend, the minutes said. Downside risks include erratic performances from some overseas economies, as well as commodity prices and wage growth.
Consumer prices are pretty consistently in the range of 2.0 to 2.5 percent, and inflation expectations have risen correspondingly.
At the meeting, the BoJ delayed its normalization of policy as policymakers decided to unveil a detailed plan for reducing its bond purchase program at its upcoming meeting in July. The policy board decided to conduct purchases of Japanese government bonds, CP, and corporate bonds in accordance with the decision made at the March meeting but voted 8-1 to cut its purchases thereafter to ensure that long-term interest rates would be formed more freely in financial markets.
