Japan recovery prospects uncertain: BoJ board member

Japan's economic recovery may lose steam later this year if exports and production slow because of weak overseas demand, a senior central banker said Thursday.
"It remains highly uncertain whether the economic upturn will continue," said Atsushi Mizuno, a member of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy board.
The job market was still weak and big companies were pressing ahead with cost cuts, he said in a speech in the western Japan prefecture of Okayama.
"There also are risks the recovery momentum in production and exports will slow from the autumn onwards, reflecting the weak US and European recovery," he said.
Official data on Monday showed Japan's economy, the second largest in the world, grew for the first time in five quarters, lifting hopes that a fledgling global recovery is taking hold thanks to governments' pump-priming efforts.