The upbeat assessment¹ of the economy came as the BoJ left its huge monetary² easing programme unchanged.

 

It is the first time the BoJ has described the world's third-largest economy as being on the path towards expansion in more than two years.

 

The bank is to stick to its plan of pumping more than 60tn yen³ ($606bn) a year into the economy.

 

The programme is known as "Abenomics'' after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who took office late last year.

 

The BoJ has been flagging up steady improvements in the economy for the past six months, but Thursday's announcement is the first to point to a broad recovery.

 

"With regard to the outlook, Japan's economy is expected to recover moderately on the back of the resilience in domestic demand and the pick-up in overseas economies," the BoJ said in a statement.

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