BoJ Governor spells out efforts to beat deflation

TOKYO: Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said Japan needs both a monetary response and efforts to boost its growth potential in order to beat deflation, a government official said on Thursday.

The BoJ is doing all it can to shore up growth potential, Shirakawa was quoted as telling a meeting of ministers, as the central bank remains under political pressure to do more to beat deflation and achieve its 1 percent inflation goal.

The government stuck to its assessment that the economy is slowly recovering in a report on Thursday, voicing a similar view to that of the central bank, while warning about risks from Europe's sovereign debt problems and high oil prices.