Japan govt considers calling end to deflation

TOKYO, Mar 04 (Reuters): Japan is considering calling an end to deflation in the wake of rising prices, Kyodo news reported, a move that would turn a new page for the world's fourth-largest economy after decades of economic stagnation scarred a generation of workers and investors.
The weekend report, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, highlights growing market bets that the Bank of Japan will soon exit its ultra-easy policy settings.
However, it wasn't clear from the Kyodo report if the government would officially declare an end to deflation. In the last few years the government has maintained that Japan was no longer in deflation, but it has stopped short of declaring a complete victory over falling prices.
A formal declaration would draw a line under nearly two decades of falling prices and economic stagnation that followed the collapse of its "bubble era" boom that stretched from 1986 to 1991. Last week, the Tokyo Nikkei benchmark soared past the record high set during heady days of the bubble economy over three decades ago.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a news conference that Japan has not reached the stage yet where it can call a complete end of deflation, shrugging off the Kyodo report.