The Japanese government has postponed the release of its monthly economic report from March 18 to an unspecified date, it said on Wednesday, as it grapples with disaster relief and a nuclear safety crisis following last Friday's massive earthquake. Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Tuesday that the next monthly economic report would focus on the potential impact of the earthquake and tsunami that hit north-east Japan and a series of nuclear incidents that followed.
An official at the Cabinet Office, which is in charge of the report, said the delay was due to scheduling difficulties for the prime minister and other cabinet ministers preoccupied with quake-related matters, adding that the government agency was still deliberating on the date. The government last month upgraded its assessment of the economy for a second consecutive month on mounting evidence that export demand and industrial production were pulling the economy out of a lull.