- Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Japan Governor
Industrial production of Japan's mines, manufacturers and utilities dropped on month in November, a revised data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. Japan's industrial output declined 0.9% on a monthly basis, but gained 1.7% year-on-year in November. This compared with economists' expectations for a rise of 1.0% and 1.6% on a monthly and annual basis respectively. The decrease came in light of slowdown in China, Japan's top trading partner and destination for a large proportion on Japan's exports. Moreover, sluggish domestic demand has also hit industrial production, with a fall in private demand forcing the Bank of Japan and government to weigh whether or not to deploy more stimulus measures in order to prevent the economy to slip back into recession.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reiterated that the world's third biggest economy is likely to continue recovering moderately despite slowing growth in emerging economies. Kuroda also repeated the central bank's commitment to continue its aggressive easing as long as it is necessary to reach and maintain its 2% inflation target.
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