Bank of Japan eyes higher inflation, even with slower growth

Bank of Japan eyes higher inflation, even with slower groth when Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda holds his monthly press conference Thursday, he’ll face two big questions. First, will he temper his steadfast optimism about Japan’s economic recovery after a string of disappointing summer data? Second, if he does, will that alter his confidence that inflation remains on track to hit his target next year? The answer to the first may be yes. Even so, the answer to the second is probably no.  That means the central bank is likely to stick this week to its current stimulus program without any expansion. Unless conditions continue to decline markedly, that stance could hold through the end of the year. That has, in fact, been the pattern for the BOJ over the past year. Policy board members have issued four updated consensus forecasts for the current fiscal year ending next March. Each time, they’ve marked down projections for price-adjusted economic growth, from 1.5% in October to 1.0% in July. The next official forecast is due in late October and another BOJ downward revision is likely, according to wsj.com