REPORT - The Bank of Japan published its Monthly Report of Recent Economic and Financial Developments, November 2002, on 21 November. In the report the Bank downgraded its assessment of the economy for the first time in a year, citing stagnant export-led growth coupled with "persistently" weak domestic demand. The BoJ revealed that exports, which had been expected to support the country's incipient recovery, were unlikely to recover in the coming months. "Japan's economy has stabilised as a