BoJ Kuroda Confident on 2 Percent Inflation As CAPEX Rises

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Monday he saw no need to water down the bank’s commitment to achieve 2 percent inflation in two years, stressing that the country was on track to meet the target despite risks from soft overseas growth.

He also signaled the bank’s readiness to maintain its ultra-loose policy for as long as needed to sustainably achieve the inflation target, or expand stimulus further if the economy and prices sharply undershoot its forecasts.

Kuroda has faced a rift in the nine-member board with four voicing doubts about the BOJ’s rosy projections, including two skeptics of the price target who made unsuccessful proposals in October to water it down.

Many economists also doubt the BOJ can reach its inflation goal so soon.

Describing 2 percent inflation as a “global standard” adopted by most major central banks, Kuroda shrugged off the view the price target was too ambitious for a country mired in deflation for 15 years, or that the BOJ’s board was split on the feasibility of the target.

“I do not think that achieving 2 percent inflation in two years has become difficult or that such views have grown (within the board),” Kuroda told a news conference after meeting with business leaders in Nagoya, central Japan.

“I see no need and have no plan to modify the target.”

via Reuters

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