TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - The Bank of Japan issued the following year to March 2002 ranges of forecasts made by the bank's nine policy board members in its first bi-annual Outlook and Risk Assessment of the Economy and Prices report.
The bank produced two forecast ranges for each of the following indicators, with the broader range including all members' forecasts and the narrow range excluding the top and bottom estimates.

Real GDP:
narrow - minus 0.9/minus 1.2 pct
broad - minus 0.6/minus 1.6 pct
Core CPI:
narrow - minus 1.0/minus 1.1 pct
broad - minus 0.9/minus 1.3 pct
Domestic WPI
narrow - minus 1.0/minus 1.2 pct
broad - minus 0.9/minus 1.5 pct

In the previous report released in late April, the bank provided the following forecasts for the year to March 2002:

Real GDP:
narrow - plus 0.3/plus 0.8 pct
broad - minus 0.1/plus 1.0 pct
Core CPI:
narrow - minus 0.8/minus 0.4 pct
broad - minus 1.0/minus 0.3 pct
Domestic WPI
narrow - minus 0.9/minus 0.6 pct
broad - minus 1.5/minus 0.5 pct

The bank today also issued the following forecasts for the year to March 2003:

Real GDP:
narrow - minus 1.1/plus 0.1 pct
broad - minus 1.7/plus 0.2 pct
Core CPI:
narrow - minus 0.9/minus 1.3 pct
broad - minus 0.5/minus 1.7 pct
Domestic WPI
narrow - minus 0.9/minus 1.3 pct
broad - minus 0.5/minus 1.9 pct