BoJ issues growth warning as it holds rates

TOKYO, Nov 16 (BBC): The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has warned that the country's economic growth may be hurt by the eurozone debt crisis, flooding in Thailand and a strong yen. It said the euro crisis was stifling demand from Europe, while disruption to supply chains due to the Thai floods was affecting Japanese manufacturing. The warning comes just days after Japan reported that its economy grew by 1.5% in the third quarter. The BOJ left its key interest unchanged between zero and 0.1 per cent to boost growth. "Japan's economy continues to pick up but at a more moderate pace, mainly due to the effects of a slowdown in overseas economies," the central bank said in a statement. Japan's economy has been trying to recover from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that caused widespread damage earlier this year. Its expansion in the July to September period came after three quarters of contraction. However there are concerns that its recovery may be derailed in wake of global economic developments. The fear is that the ongoing debt crisis in the eurozone may hurt consumer demand in the region and dent demand for Japanese goods. That is likely to have a big impact on growth in Japan's export-dependent economy. At the same time, many Japanese manufacturers including carmakers Toyota and Honda have had to cut their global output due to supply chain disruptions caused by floods in Thailand.