News Summary: BOJ chief says Japan economy mending
News Summary: New Japan central bank governor says economy on the mend, forecasts pick-up
FEELING BETTER? Japan's economy has stopped weakening and should show signs of recovery by midyear, the newly appointed central bank governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Thursday.
RISING SUN: Kuroda has pledged to work with the government to achieve a 2 percent inflation target, preferably within two years, and end years of growth-inhibiting deflation.
FOGGY FORECAST: Kuroda said there was still "a high degree of uncertainty" about the world's third-largest economy because of the crisis in Europe, the tenuous state of the U.S. recovery and often testy relations with China.
