BOJ Shirakawa warns Japan economic outlook "very severe"

04-30-2011 • uk.reuters.com/

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Saturday that the country's economic outlook was very severe and that the central bank would take appropriate action to support the economy. But he offered few clues on whether and when the BOJ would expand its asset-buying scheme, only saying that its next policy step would depend on economic conditions at the time. "The BOJ sees the outlook for Japan's economy as very severe," Shirakawa told a financial committee meeting in the lower house of parliament. "We'd like to take appropriate policy steps as needed while monitoring the economy and prices, taking into account that uncertainty over the outlook is high," he said. Asked by a lawmaker whether the BOJ would consider buying more government bonds to support the economy, Shirakawa said only: "We'd like to consider in earnest what would be the desirable step to take."