Japan eco stabilises; recovery in latter half of FY'09

The Japanese central bank today said the country's economy which is mired in recession has stabilised and recovery will begin in the latter half of fiscal 2009.

Presenting an encouraging picture of the export-oriented economy, the Bank of Japan noted that financial conditions are showing signs of improvement.

"Japan's economic conditions have stopped worsening. Public investment is increasing and exports and production are picking up.

"... Financial conditions, while remaining generally tight, have continued to show signs of improvement," the central bank said in its statement on the nation's monetary policy.

The apex bank noted that the economy would start recovering from the "latter half of fiscal 2009" mainly on account of measures taken by the government to stabilse the financial system.

It added that improvement in overseas economies and conditions in global financial markets would help in the country's economic recovery.

Meanwhile, the apex bank has left the benchmark rate unchanged at 0.1 per cent.

Hit by the financial turmoil, Japanese economy declined at a staggering pace of 14.2 per cent on an annual basis in the January-March period.