Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda gave the clearest signal yet that the central bank may postpone the forecast date for achieving its 2 percent inflation target to 2018, even with economic growth set to accelerate next year.
"It may take slightly more months to reach the 2 percent inflation rate" than the current forecast to hit it in the coming fiscal year, Kuroda said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of an annual gathering of finance chiefs in Washington. "We have to carefully study all relevant statistics before we review the forecast. So we may change, we may not change."
A delay will signal the BOJ would fail to reach its objective during Kuroda's term, which concludes in April 2018. That will raise the stakes for either the governor's reappointment or the selection of a successor who is committed to sustaining his unprecedented scale of monetary stimulus in the world's No. 3 economy.