Japan's recovery faces uncertainty including from Omicron - BOJ Amamiya

Economy

FILE PHOTO: Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan July 5, 2019.     REUTERS/Issei Kato
FILE PHOTO: Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya speaks during a Reuters Newsmaker event in Tokyo, Japan July 5, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy is likely to show a clearer recovery in the second half of next year but there is "huge uncertainty" over the outlook including from the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masayoshi Amamiya said on Wednesday.

Amamiya told a news conference he was undecided on whether the BOJ would end or extend a range of pandemic-relief funding programmes when they expire in March 2022.

"We will scrutinise developments in corporate funding and financial transmission, including the BOJ's December tankan survey, in reaching a decision," he said.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)

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