BOJ cuts economic view for 7 of 9 Japan regions

TOKYO (Reuters): The Bank of Japan on Monday cut its assessment of seven of Japan’s nine regional economies in a quarterly report, in a sign of widening pain from slowing overseas demand.

 The seven regions noted that the pace of pickup in their economies was moderating or pausing, the central bank said in the report, which was issued at its meeting of regional branch managers.

 Two of the regions kept their economic assessments unchanged from October.

 In a speech delivered to the meeting, BOJ Governor Masaaki

Shirakawa said Europe’s sovereign debt crisis remained the biggest risk to Japan’s economy as it heads toward a gradual recovery.