BOJ cuts inflation forecast, warns of soft consumption as pandemic pain lingers

  • 4/27/2021
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TOKYO, April 27 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan on Tuesday cut this fiscal year’s consumer inflation forecast and warned of lingering risks to the economic outlook as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to hurt consumption. As widely expected, the BOJ maintained its short-term interest rate target at -0.1% and that for 10-year government bond yields around 0%. “The pick-up in consumption is stalling as downward pressure on service spending, such as for dining and accommodation, is strengthening,” the central bank said in a quarterly report on the economic and price outlook. In its fresh quarterly projections, the BOJ said it expects core consumer inflation to hit 0.1% in the current fiscal year that began in April. That was lower than 0.5% projected in January. The BOJ now expects core consumer inflation to hit 0.8% the following year and 1.0% in fiscal 2023. (Reporting by Leika Kihara, Tetsushi Kajimoto and Daniel Leussink Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)

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