Setback for ‘Abenomics’ as Bank of Japan puts off inflation goal target date
Tokyo — Japan’s central bank on Tuesday again pushed back the timeline for hitting its inflation goal, raising questions about the viability of Tokyo’s attempts to kick-start the deflation-plagued economy. The Bank of Japan has for the past three years pursued a programme of bond-buying stimulus to keep interest rates ultra low and borrow more for expenditure. The programme was introduced by BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda in conjunction with a government spending drive that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hoped would drag the economy out of years of torpor. But in a new sign that authorities are still struggling, the bank said it now expected to hit 2% inflation by March 2019 — four years later than its original target and the latest in a string of delays. That will be 11 months after Kuroda’s term ends. Abe hand-picked Kuroda, former head of the Asian Development Bank, to help drive his "Abenomics" growth blitz of big spending, easy money and structural reform unveiled in early 2013. The p...
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