TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan on Friday projected the country’s core consumer price index (CPI) to rise 1.6% in the fiscal year starting in April 2025, announcing the closely watched forecast for the first time.
BOJ watchers have been awaiting the forecast to gauge the central bank’s perception of whether its 2% price target could be hit sustainably, which in turn would provide clues on the timing of an exit from its ultra-easy policy.
For the current 2023 fiscal year, the BOJ said it expects core CPI to hit 1.8%, versus its previous projection of 1.6%, and 2.0% in fiscal 2024, instead of 1.8%.
(Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)
