According to the Bank of Japan’s Statement released on March 18:
Japan's economy has picked up as a trend, although some weakness has been seen in part, mainly due to the impact of COVID-19.
Overseas economies have recovered on the whole, albeit with variation across countries and regions.
However, in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global financial and capital markets have been volatile and prices of commodities such as crude oil have risen significantly, and future developments warrant attention.
In this situation, Japan's exports and industrial production have continued to increase as a trend, despite the remaining effects of supply-side constraints.
In addition, corporate profits and business sentiment have continued to improve on the whole.
Business fixed investment has picked up, although weakness has been seen in some industries.
The employment and income situation has remained relatively weak on the whole, although improvement has been seen in some parts.
A pick-up in private consumption has paused due to increased downward pressure stemming from a resurgence of COVID-19, particularly on services consumption.
Housing investment has been more or less flat.
Public investment has been relatively weak, albeit at a high level.
Financial conditions have been accommodative on the whole, although weakness in firms' financial positions has remained in some segments.
On the price front, the year-on-year rate of change in the consumer price index (CPI, all items less fresh food), despite being affected by a reduction in mobile phone charges, has been at around 0.5 percent, reflecting price rises of energy and other items.
Meanwhile, inflation expectations have risen moderately.
