The Bank of Japan will continue with very accommodative monetary policy and maintain the current pace of asset purchases for some time, Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda said in an interview.
While Japan's economy is doing better than expected a few months ago, the inflation rate is still quite sluggish, Kuroda said in New York on Thursday.
Speaking a week before the BOJ's next policy meeting, when the board will also update its estimates for growth and consumer prices, he said the exchange rate could affect inflation in the short term and that if the yen appreciates, there is a chance of a delay in hitting his 2 percent price goal. He added that depreciation would have the opposite effect.