Governor Haruhiko Kuroda starts his last full year at the helm of Bank of Japan amid hints of public discontent over rising prices that could shape the direction of the central bank after he leaves or even as soon as coming months.
While Japan’s inflation remains weak compared with the United States and other major economies, it appears to have picked up enough speed to trigger a change in optics.
At a two-day meeting that started Monday, the central bank likely discussed dropping its insistence that downward risks to prices outweigh upward factors for the first time in over seven years, according to people familiar with the matter.