Even the Bank of Japan's recently extended time frame for achieving its inflation target may be too optimistic, according to some members of the BOJ Policy Board.
A few members said at the central bank's April 30 meeting that inflation would not reach 2 percent until after the fiscal year through March 2018, according to minutes released on Wednesday. Sayuri Shirai proposed that the BOJ say it would meet the goal "in or around" next fiscal year, which starts in April 2016.
The minutes highlight the divergence in views Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda is contending with after slumping oil prices and a recession last year stalled his reflation program. Takehiro Sato and Takahide Kiuchi also offered alternatives to the final decision to say the inflation goal would be achieved around the first half of the next fiscal year.