BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda spoke at a branch manager meeting today. He expressed the an upbeat view on inflation. Kuroda noted improving output gap as well as heightening medium- to long-term inflation expectations. Thus, He expected “inflation accelerate as a trend and head toward 2 percent.” Also, “Japan’s economy is expected to continue expanding moderately”. Nonetheless, Kuroda maintained that the ultra loose monetary policy needs to be maintained “until needed to stably and sustainably achieve” its target.
Separately, BOJ Executive Director Eiji Maeda told the parliament that “medium- and long-term inflation expectations are recently emerging from weaknesses. Also “wages and inflation are rising moderately.” Maeda also said that “Japan’s economy is making steady progress toward achieving the BOJ’s 2 percent inflation target”.
