However, the extent of the negative effects caused by the rise in the consumption tax rate, including the reversal in the stepped-up demand, has yet to be confirmed. Also, balance-sheet adjustment pressures may continue to restrain the economic recovery.
In these circumstances, promoting effective reforms of Japan’s economic structure is an important ingredient in the efforts to strengthen the basis for recovery in private demand as well as the basis for a medium to long-term growth in Japan’s economy. BIS Review 47/1997