Tokyo must address Japan's burgeoning fiscal deficit if the economy is to regain its vitality, Masaaki Shirakawa, the governor of the Bank of Japan, said on Monday.

In remarks to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, Shirakawa put tackling the fiscal deficit among a clutch of measures needed to restore health to the Japanese economy. "The deterioration in the fiscal situation reduces expectations for future income growth, especially among the working-age generation, and restrains spending