Bank of Japan has an even gloomier view of inflation
The BoJ has barely any room to manoeuvre as it tries to map a path to roll back its crisis-era stimulus
Tokyo — The Bank of Japan (BoJ) downgraded its view on inflation on Friday, in a fresh blow to its long-held 2% price goal, giving the central bank barely any room to manoeuvre as it tries to map a path to roll back its crisis-era stimulus. As widely expected, the BoJ maintained its ultra-loose monetary policy, keeping its short-term interest rate target at minus 0.1% and a pledge to guide 10-year government bond yields around 0%. The move contrasts with the European Central Bank’s decision to end its asset-purchase programme this year and the US Federal Reserve’s steady rate increases, which signalled a break from policies deployed to battle the 2007-09 financial crisis. "Consumer price growth is in a range of 0.5 to 1%," the Bank of Japan said in a statement accompanying the decision. That was a slightly bleaker view than in the previous meeting in April, when the bank said inflation was moving around 1%. BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda conceded that price growth remained "somewhat w...
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