International factors to blame for Tokyo's stock-price plunge: BOJ

Tokyo

AFTER Tokyo stock prices suffered their biggest daily drop in five months yesterday, Bank of Japan (BOJ) officials blamed the 3 per cent plunge on international factors in the Middle East and Europe, and insisted that the central bank was standing its ground on its basically upbeat view of the country's short to medium-term economic prospects.

BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda, speaking at a briefing after the bank's Policy Board decided to leave its monetary policy unchanged, noted that geopolitical risks "have been heightening somewhat", and said that the BOJ would monitor the market's movements, though "at this stage, (these risks) have not led us to alter our forecasts in a major way".