Hitoshi Suzuki: Economic activity, prices, and monetary policy in Japan

Speech by Mr Hitoshi Suzuki, Member of the Policy Board of the Bank of Japan, at a meeting with business leaders, Okinawa, 29 August 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

I. Recent Economic and Price Developments

A. Overseas Economies

I would like to begin my speech by talking about overseas economies.

Overseas economies have continued to grow firmly on the whole, although the global business sentiment of manufacturing firms has declined somewhat recently.

As for the U.S. economy, business sentiment has been favorable and private consumption has been on an increasing trend, partly supported by improvements in the employment and income situation, as well as in consumer sentiment. In terms of the outlook, the U.S. economy is expected to continue expanding on the back of a steady improvement in the employment and income situation, supported by expansionary fiscal policy, although moderate policy rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are expected to continue.