BOJ Upgrades Economic Assessment for 2 of Japan's 9 Regions

Tokyo, Oct. 8 (Jiji Press)--The Bank of Japan revised up its economic assessment for two of the country's nine regions in a quarterly report released Thursday while leaving it unchanged for the rest.

The central bank compiled the report at the day's meeting of managers of its regional branches, which was held at its headquarters in Tokyo. Demand related to artificial intelligence remained strong, including for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and electronic components. The BOJ raised its economic assessment of production for seven of the nine regions, excluding Hokkaido in northern Japan and Tokai in central Japan.

In the report, the BOJ said the economy in all nine regions has been "picking up moderately," "recovering moderately," or "on a moderate recovery trend" while noting that "some weakness has been seen in part."

The central bank revised upward its economic assessment for the Tohoku northeastern region from the assessment that the economy "has been picking up" to the view that the economy "has been recovering moderately." It also raised its economic view for the Shikoku western region from the assessment that the economy "has been picking up moderately" to the view that the economy "has been picking up."

In interviews with companies, an electrical equipment maker in the western prefecture of Osaka said that AI-related demand has been increasing faster than expected and that robust demand is likely to continue for about the next three years.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]