BOJ chief: Uncertainty over U.S. econ still high

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TOKYO, May 27 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Tuesday that concern over the U.S. economy remained high, pointing to unstable housing and financial markets.

"The biggest uncertainty is whether the housing market will show signs of a recovery," Shirakawa told a financial committee in the upper house of parliament.

He said that if the housing market recovered, the likelihood of the U.S. Federal Reserve's forecast that the economy will gradually pick up pace would increase. He added that the series of interest rate cuts and tax rebates would also provide a boost to the economy.

Shirakawa was speaking at the committee's question-and-answer session on the BOJ's half-yearly report to parliament.

The BOJ kept its overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.50 percent as widely expected at a two-day policy board meeting last week. [ID:nT37919] (Reporting by Hideyuki Sano and Yuzo Saeki)