北海道と東北、景気判断下げ　コロナ再拡大に懸念―日銀報告

　日銀は１５日、春の支店長会議を開き、全国９地域の景気動向をまとめた地域経済報告（さくらリポート）を公表した。新型コロナウイルス感染再拡大の影響などで北海道と東北の２地域の景気判断を前回１月報告から引き下げた。残る７地域は据え置き。多くの地域は「持ち直し」の動きが続いているとしつつも、飲食や宿泊など対面サービス消費への影響に懸念を示した。
　変異ウイルスが猛威を振るっている大阪府や兵庫県などを含む近畿については「まん延防止等重点措置が実施される下で、サービス消費への下押し圧力は強い状態にある」との判断を示した。（2021/04/15-18:45）

The Bank of Japan, in a quarterly report released Thursday, downgraded its economic assessments for two of the country's nine regions, against the backdrop of spreading coronavirus infections.
   The two are Hokkaido in northern Japan and the northeastern region of Tohoku. The assessments for the seven other regions were kept unchanged.
   In the Regional Economic Report, the BOJ indicated that many regional economies are picking up, but showed concerns about the pandemic's impact on the restaurant, hotel and other industries involving face-to-face services.
   In particular, the central bank cited strong downward pressure on consumption of services in the Kinki region including Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, where pre-emergency measures against the pandemic are currently in place.
   At a meeting of BOJ regional branch heads on Thursday, Governor Haruhiko Kuroda indicated the central bank's emphasis on providing financial support for companies and maintaining financial market stability.