Bank of Japan (BOJ) board member Toyoaki Nakamura expressed concerns on Thursday that inflation might not meet the central bank's 2% target starting from fiscal 2025, if consumer spending weakens and dampens firms' ability to raise prices. In the BOJ's April projections, the median forecast by the nine-member board suggests core consumer inflation could reach 1.9% for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
Nakamura highlighted in a speech to business leaders in Sapporo that he believes inflation may fall short of 2% beyond fiscal 2025 if household consumption remains subdued, discouraging further price increases by companies. He also noted sluggish domestic consumption and a slowdown in global economic recovery.
In March, Nakamura was the sole dissenting voice against the BOJ's decision to end its eight-year policy of negative interest rates and bond yield control.
Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.
