TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japanese Economy Minister Hiroko Ota said Tuesday she hasn't changed her view that the economy is in a lull after the Bank of Japan tankan survey of business sentiment showed the big manufacturers' business sentiment index fell to a four-year low.
"I haven't changed my assessment of the economy," Ota told a press conference. "While it is true that sentiment has worsened and we need to monitor developments in corporate investment, corporate profits are expected to recover in the second half (of fiscal 2008)," she added.
The BOJ's quarterly survey of corporate sentiment showed that the headline diffusion index for large manufacturers worsened to 11 in March from 19 in the previous survey, the lowest reading since the December 2003 survey.
-By Takeshi Takeuchi, Dow Jones Newswires; 813-5255-2929; Takeshi.Takeuchi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2008 21:23 ET (01:23 GMT) | 
