A team of private-sector economists and financial market participants agreed Tuesday that Japan will not be able to shake off deflation for a few more years, a government official said.
The members also endorsed the government's recent view that the economy is deteriorating but were divided almost down the middle on how long it will continue to sink, the Cabinet Office official said.
Tuesday's gathering involved one of the team's six subgroups formed under the government's Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy.