BOJ maintains economic views on 5 regions as pandemic persists

The Bank of Japan on Thursday maintained its economic assessments on five of the nine regions amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases as Governor Haruhiko Kuroda expects the pace of recovery to be modest.In its quarterly Sakura report, the assessment on Hokkaido in northern Japan was downgraded due to a slowing recovery while the BOJ raised its view on the remaining three regions, Hokuriku, Shikoku and Kyushu-Okinawa.The economy was in a "severe" situation in many regions due to the pandemic, but signs of a pickup have emerged, the BOJ said.The report came amid reignited fears of a double-di…READ FULL ARTICLE