Bank of Japan governor Toshihiko Fukui reiterated the domestic economy is expanding moderately and that such "prolonged economic expansion is expected to continue." Fukui said in a speech to an annual convention of credit unions that he expects the core consumer price index, the BoJ's measure of inflation, to continue "on an uptrend," on a year-on-year change basis. "Macro balance between supply and demand is expected to lean on excess demand," the central bank governor said. But Fukui cautioned about the risks of external factors causing turbulence for the Japanese economy, saying "The BoJ needs to keep (its) attention on overseas commodity prices, especially on oil prices and the future economic conditions in the US." As such, Fukui said the BoJ will tune monetary policy in accordance with its close observations of economic and price conditions. "If the domestic economy would go in line with our economic outlook for the future, interest rate adjustments will be gradual," he added.