TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - State Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Heizo Takenaka said the Bank of Japan still has room to devise new measures to help further ease monetary policy, citing high real interest rates. "Price movement is a phenomenon related to money and the BoJ is providing near the maximum level of liquidity needed to lower interest rates to almost zero, but real interest rates remain high," Takenaka said. "So there is still room for the BoJ to devise policy measures," he told a parliamentary budget committee. However, BoJ governor Masaru Hayami told the same committee that domestic demand will not pick up even if the central bank eases policy further without progress in real economic reforms, given current economic conditions. "We cannot expect domestic demand will be generated, even if we add to liquidity, in the environment where the monetary base is 23 pct higher than last year and bank lending is showing negative 3 pct growth."