BoJ Minutes: Economy Likely To Continue Modest Recovery

(RTTNews) - Members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that Japan's economy is trending upward and should continue to do so in the short term, minutes from the central bank's January 22 monetary policy meeting revealed on Monday.

Overall inflation is likely to be above 2 percent through fiscal 2024, although it may slow down in fiscal 2025, the members said - although they vowed to continue with easing as long as necessary to reach price stability.

At the meeting, the central bank left its massive monetary stimulus unchanged at -0.1 percent and downgraded its inflation outlook for the next fiscal year. The bank will also continue to purchase a necessary amount of Japanese government bonds without setting an upper limit so that 10-year JGB yields will remain at around zero percent.

In the Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices, the central bank said consumer prices will remain above 2 percent through the fiscal 2024. The bank lowered its fiscal 2024 core inflation outlook to 2.4 percent from 2.8 percent and the projection for the fiscal 2025 was lifted to 1.8 percent from 1.7 percent.

The real economic growth forecast for the fiscal 2024 was lifted to 1.2 percent from 1.0 percent and the estimate for the fiscal 2025 was retained at 1.0 percent.