BOJ Refrains From Adding Stimulus Even as Inflation, Growth Wane
- Target for 2% Inflation Now Seen Hit in Half-Year to March '17
- Government had signaled no stimulus expansion now needed
Why did the BOJ Hold Off on More Stimulus?
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The Bank of Japan declined to step up its monetary stimulus Friday even as it postponed its time-frame for reaching a 2 percent inflation target for the second time this year.
BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his fellow board members said in a report detailing updated economic projections that the slide in oil prices was to blame for reduced consumer-price forecasts for the coming two years. The bank now sees the inflation target reached around the six-month period through March 2017. At the start of this year, the expectation was for the goal to be realized in the fiscal year through March 2016.