--Japan CEFP minutes: BOJ Hayami: Stock falls to affect corp sentiment
--Japan CEFP minutes: BOJ Hayami said corporate profits rising
By Reiko Mizutome, BridgeNews
Tokyo--Jan. 11--Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Masaru Hayami said at the first meeting of Japan's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) held Saturday that the economy has been recovering gradually despite risks from overseas economies and market conditions, according to the minutes of the meeting released Thursday.
* * * Jiro Ushio, chairman of Ushio Corp., said at the meeting that the recent depreciation of the yen is a welcome occurrence for the Japanese business sector, the minutes said.
The council was set up Saturday as part of the government's administrative reform. During the meeting, it decided to release the minutes of each meeting two to three days afterward.
According to the minutes, Hayami said, "Although it is necessary to closely watch risk factors in overseas economies and market conditions from now on, it is not necessary to change the view that the economy has been recovering mainly led by private demand."
He was also quoted as saying that although falls in stock prices have affected corporate sentiment, the BOJ's quarterly "tankan" business survey in December showed corporate profits continued to increase.v Meanwhile, Ushio said, "The yen's level of around 115 against the U.S. dollar is not depreciation caused by so-called "Japan selling," but is a correction of excessive appreciation to an appropriate level," adding that the market welcomes this depreciation.
As for economic and fiscal policy, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, the CEFP chairman, reiterated that Japan should consider economic recovery as its first priority.
But Toranosuke Katayama, minister of public management, insisted at the meeting that fiscal reform be started.
The CEFP, set up to discuss and set guidelines on economic and fiscal policy, will meet once a month in general. The second meeting is scheduled Jan.18.