Japan Expects 3% Inflation in 2014 in Sign Reflation May Succeed

Japanese consumers’ inflation expectations remained at 3 percent for a second quarter in June, in a sign that Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s reflationary drive may be succeeding.

People expect prices to climb 3 percent over the next 12 months, the same as in March, according to the median result in a Bank of Japan survey released today in Tokyo. The indicator doesn’t include the effects of a planned increase in the sales tax to 8 percent in April from the current 5 percent.