Shirai Suggests Widening BOJ Target Once Inflation Advances
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Bank of Japan board member Sayuri Shirai suggested the central bank could broaden its 2 percent inflation target into a numerical range once price gains advance closer to the goal.
“The idea of applying a range to the inflation target should not be ruled out,” Shirai said in a speech given in New York and published yesterday on the BOJ’s website. A band “might be examined after the inflation rate exceeds at least 1 percent in a stable manner, and after it is judged that inflation expectations are likely to rise toward 2 percent,” she said.