BOJ board members warned of recession risk: October 4-5 minutes

TOKYO (Reuters) - A few Bank of Japan board members warned that a recession in the world's third-largest economy could not be ruled out given recent weakness in industrial production, minutes of the BOJ's October 4-5 policy meeting showed on Friday.

Some members also said that, due to a slowdown in overseas economies, Japan's economy may not return to a recovery path until after the start of next year, the minutes showed.

A representative of the government said at the meeting it was particularly important for the BOJ to produce visible results in achieving its goal of a 1 percent consumer inflation rate.

At that meeting, the BOJ kept policy on hold.

At a subsequent meeting this week, the central bank increased its asset-buying and lending program, its main monetary easing tool, by 11 trillion yen ($137 billion), to 91 trillion yen. It also unveiled a plan to supply banks with unlimited cheap long-term funds under a new scheme initially seen sized around 15 trillion yen.

($1 = 80.1400 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Stanley White; Editing by Edmund Klamann)