BOJ keeps economic view steady for 8 of 9 regions

By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan on Monday maintained its economic assessments for eight of its regions saying their economies were recovering moderately or picking up, and cut the assessment for one area. Some regions cited companies in their area as saying they might need to curb wage increases if U.S. tariffs severely impact their profits, the BOJ said in a summary of reports made by its regional branch managers. But other regions saw companies projecting the need to keep raising wages because of labour shortages, increases in minimum wages and recent hikes in food costs, the summary said. Many companies planned to continue increasing capital expenditures to streamline operations and meet rising information technology-related demand, though some planned to put off or review their spending plans on uncertainty over the impact of U.S. tariffs, it said. (Reporting by Leika KiharaEditing by Chang-Ran Kim and Christian Schmollinger)

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