The Bank of Japan stood by its previous assessment of the economy in its monthly report, saying it is expanding moderately with deflation easing. "Japan's economy is expanding moderately," supported by rising consumer spending, brisk corporate activity and continued growth of exports, the central bank said in its report for September, repeating the same wording it used a month earlier. The BoJ said that fixed-asset investment by businesses continued to increase on the back of high corporate profits, maintaining its view last month. In the household sector, private consumption "has been on an increasing trend" due to moderate increase in income, the central bank said. The only notable change in the latest report was that the BoJ noted the recent volatility on investments in the housing sector. "Housing investment has been increasing moderately with some fluctuations," the central bank said in its September report. In August, the BoJ said investment in housing has been increasing moderately. Amid easing structural risks, the Japanese economy "is expected to expand moderately," the BoJ said, repeating its view in August. In May, the BoJ used the word "expand" for the first time in describing the status of the economy. "Exports are expected to continue rising against a background of expansion in overseas economies," the central bank said. "Domestic private demand is likely to also continue increasing, given high corporate profits and the moderate rise in household incomes." It also remains optimistic about the outlook for prices in the near term despite recent tame consumer price data. "The year-on-year rate of change in consumer prices is projected to continue to follow a positive trend as the output gap continues to be positive," it said. The government last month said that Japan's core consumer price index, which excludes volatile prices of fresh food but includes energy prices, rose 0.2 pct year-on-year in July, using a new product basket and base year. The market was looking for a rise of 0.5 pct The montly economic assessment followed the conclusion of the BoJ's two-day policy meeting earlier today where the nine members voted unanimously to leave the overnight call rate target at 0.25 pct, as widely expected by the market. The next meeting is on Oct 12-13.