BOJ cuts economic view across board

The Bank of Japan cut its economic assessment in all of the country's nine regions for the first time, citing slowing exports and weak household spending.

"Economic growth had been sluggish in general, mainly due to the effects of earlier increases in energy and materials prices and weaker growth in exports," the central bank said in a quarterly report in Tokyo yesterday. It was the first time the bank cut its view of all areas since the report began in 2005.

Japan may have entered a recession even before the global financial crisis deepened last month: the economy shrank in the second quarter and factory output, machine orders and household spending fell in August. The central bank will lower its growth forecasts in a report to be released on Oct 31.