After the earthquake, the Japanese central bank says ready to act

    According to latest reports, the earthquake would have caused thousands of casualties and damage would be counted in billions of dollars. Many businesses were affected, some manufacturing giants like Toyota, Nissan and Sony was forced to suspend production on several of their production sites, raising fears of a very sharp slowdown in economic growth. Many refineries have been destroyed and also other major companies. It is still too early to make an accurate estimate of the natural disaster on the economy.   To meet the emergency, the central bank quickly put together a team of disaster management under the direct authority of the Governor Shirakawa and will operate from Tokyo, a city that has not been as affected as the Northern countries. The immediate concern is so great that the central bank should try to reassure markets by ensuring the supply of liquidity.   Moreover, the forthcoming meeting of the central bank, which was scheduled over two days, Monday and Tuesday, should take place on Monday to quickly announce measures to support and stabilize financial markets. However, the margin is already very low for the central bank since interest rates at their lowest, at 0.1%.   This natural disaster occurs at the worst time for the country struggling against a persistent deflation and also against the threat of further deterioration in the sovereign rating. In January, S & P had lowered the rating of the country for the first time since 2002 and, following in February, Moody's had increased the pressure by putting the note of Japan under a negative outlook.   Even before the earthquake, the government was in a very difficult position, struggling to balance the budget for the fiscal year will start on 1 April, which could lead to the downfall of the current prime minister.  The quake could hasten events including an upcoming deterioration of the sovereign rating of the country that could turn on the yen. Until now, because of its safe haven status, the currency was stable against other currencies.