Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda faces another awkward communications challenge later this month when the central bank updates forecasts widely expected to predict the strongest annual inflation since 1992 outside years with a tax hike.
With global central banks accelerating interest rate hikes to tackle inflation, Kuroda will have the task of explaining why he is insisting on staying wedded to stimulus when the BOJ itself sees price growth at the fastest pace in decades.
Surveyed economists see key consumer prices rising 1.8% in the year that started in April, compared with the BOJ’s current forecast of 1.1%. SMBC Nikko Securities economists go further, forecasting inflation of about 2.5% for this fiscal year in a report earlier this week.