“The only adjustment was that the Board now expects inflation to remain around zero for the time being abstracting from the impact of last year’s sales tax hike. Last month, it predicted it would slow further,” Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said.
The central bank is targeting a consumer inflation of 2% by early 2016. However, core consumer inflation was at 0.2% in January after a 1.5% peak in April due to lower energy prices.
Consequently, if the BOJ decides to ramp up quantitative easing, it would further bolster the economy and potentially drag on the yen currency.
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Max Chen contributed to this article.