Chances of inflation hitting 2 percent “extremely slim: BOJ Chief

November 19, 2019

Tokyo--The Bank of Japan now sees "extremely slim" chances of inflation rising to its target of 2 pct by the end of fiscal 2021, BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Tuesday.

"The possibility of achieving (the inflation target) during fiscal 2021 is extremely slim," Kuroda said in briefing the House of Councillors Committee on Financial Affairs on a semiannual monetary policy report.

In a quarterly report released late last month, the BOJ estimated that annual growth in Japan's core consumer price index will fall short of 2 pct in the three years through fiscal 2021, which ends in March 2022, putting the fiscal 2021 inflation at 1.5 pct.

At the Upper House panel meeting, Kuroda reiterated the central bank's readiness to take additional monetary easing steps "without hesitation" if prices seem to lose upward momentum.

Referring to a possible option to further loosen monetary conditions, Kuroda said the BOJ still has "plenty of room for deepening negative interest rates," adding, however, that it cannot do this indefinitely. Jiji Press