BOJ Governor: May adjust policy if confident of rising inflation in 2024
2023-06-29 23:37:37 Source: Financial circles share to:
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Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the Bank of Japan may start normalizing monetary policy if it becomes confident that inflation will rise next year.
For now, underlying inflation remains below 2 percent and the BOJ expects price gains to moderate as the end of the year approaches, Ueda said on Wednesday. He did not say whether he was referring to the fiscal year ending in March next year.
“From there, we expect inflation to pick up somewhat by 2024, but we are not too confident about that part of the forecast,” he told the ECB’s annual forum in Sintra, Portugal. “If we can be reasonably confident that the second part (forecast) will happen, that could be a very good reason to adjust policy.”
He noted that the BOJ’s latest forecast assumes 2 percent inflation in fiscal 2024. While the consumer price index recently rose more than 3 percent, “well above the 2 percent inflation target, we think underlying inflation remains slightly below 2 percent,” he said. “That’s why we’re leaving policy unchanged for now.”