Long way yet before Kuroda's performance can be judged

IN October, Haruhiko Kuroda began the second half of his tenure as governor of the Bank of Japan and now is an opportune time on which to look back at what he has achieved so far and to consider the challenges he will face during the remainder of his current term in office.

The Japanese economy was in a state of mild recession towards the end of 2012, a few months before Mr Kuroda was appointed governor of the BOJ in March 2013. Although the economy was not in serious contraction, many had become weary of the long-standing, slow growth of the economy since the bursting of economic and financial bubbles in the latter part of the 1990s.

Under these circumstances, the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which took office at the end of 2012, wished to stimulate the economy by introducing the "three arrows" of Abenomics - monetary and fiscal stimulus plus structural economic reforms - but relying mainly on the stimulative impact of monetary policy in the first stage.