Bank of Japan’s September report of recent economic and financial developments1 Bank of Japan, 19 September 2002. * The Bank’s View  *  *  2  Japan’s economy, despite persistent weakness in domestic demand and large uncertainty regarding the global economy, has almost stabilized as a whole with exports and production continuing to increase.
With regard to final demand, while the decline in business fixed investment has become moderate, private consumption remains weak. Moreover, housing investment remains sluggish and public investment is declining. Meanwhile, net exports (real exports minus real imports) continue to increase due to the recovery in overseas economies.