In a surprise move analysts say is aimed at keeping market expectations for more stimulus in check, the Bank of Japan kept policy steady Friday but ditched a time frame it had set for hitting an inflation target.
The BOJ's policy meeting maintained an optimistic view of the economy but flagged downside risks to the consumer price outlook, underscoring the challenge of eradicating the public's sticky deflationary mindset.
Kuroda told a news conference that he remains confident the inflation target can be reached by fiscal 2019, but that the bank's Policy Board opted to remove the reference from its quarterly economic outlook report because financial markets had begun to view it as a hard deadline, rather than a forecast as intended.