Bank of Japan Policy Board member Takehiro Sato said Wednesday that achieving the 2 percent inflation target agreed to by the BOJ will be a tall order and called on the government to enhance its growth strategy to ensure wage hikes.

"At a time when Japan faces rising headwinds, such as an aging population and population decline, setting the price stability target at 2 percent is rather challenging," Sato said in a speech in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture.

Sato is one of the two BOJ Policy Board members who voted against setting the inflation target at the BOJ's policy meeting last month, arguing that the credibility of monetary policy would be impaired if a price target is set before progress is made in implementing the government's economic growth strategy.