Many Bank of Japan policymakers believe it could take longer than intended for the central bank to achieve its 2 percent inflation target, given the uncertain prospects for crude oil prices, the BOJ's minutes from a policy meeting showed Friday.
"The precise timing for reaching 2 percent could be either somewhat earlier or later" as the outlook for crude oil prices is "highly uncertain," the minutes of the Feb. 17-18 meeting said.
The BOJ is aiming to attain the inflation target sometime in fiscal 2015, which begins April 1, on the assumption that crude oil prices will rise moderately from around the recent level.
Meanwhile, one member said it is "very unlikely" that inflation will reach 2 percent in such a short period of time, arguing that the pace of increase in prices remains moderate even when excluding the effects of declining crude oil prices, the minutes said.
On the outlook for exports, the nine-member Policy Board agreed that Japan's exports have been picking up, sharing the view that they are likely to expand moderately on the back of the recovery in overseas economies and the weakening yen.
Some members pointed out that the pickup in exports was led by increased shipments to the United States and Asia, but another member said the sustainability of the recovery trend remains uncertain, as it largely depends on demand from the United States.
Regarding the government bond market, which has been volatile recently, a few members said the recent rise in interest rates could have reflected "a decline in market participants' risk tolerance and deterioration in market functioning."
A few members said that the feasibility of continuing government bond purchases into the future "warranted attention, even though it seemed technically possible to continue such purchases for some time" to proceed with its monetary easing policy.