The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Thursday but again pushed back the timing for achieving its inflation target, reinforcing expectations it will lag well behind other major central banks in scaling back its massive stimulus programme.
With robust exports and private consumption pointing to a steady though modest recovery, the Japanese central bank slightly raised its growth forecasts and offered a more upbeat view of the world's third-largest economy than last month.
But stubbornly weak price growth forced the BOJ to cut its inflation forecasts, underscoring the challenges the central bank faces as it tries to reflate the economy and coax consumers to spend more.
"Recent price developments have been relatively weak, as companies remained cautious in raising wages and prices," the BOJ said in a quarterly report on its long-term growth and inflation projections.
In a testament to the improving economy, the BOJ raised its growth projections for the current fiscal year to 1.8 percent from 1.6 percent forecast three months ago, and to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent for the following year.
"Japan's economy is expanding moderately," the BOJ said, a brighter assessment than last month when it said it was turning toward a moderate expansion.
But it slashed its consumer inflation forecasts for the year ending in March 2018 and the following year, to 1.1 percent from 1.4 percent, and to 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent.
Reference: Reuters
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/
Thai
Eng