More BOJ previews - no change in policy is expected but watch the 'Outlook' report

I posted previews earlier of the Bank of Japan policy meeting announcement for July

• Its BOJ day - here is a preview (on hold expected)
• Greg posted: Do the JPY shorts get squeezed or do they get a reprieve?
• BOJ meeting concludes tomorrow - 'Is the BOJ about to shock markets anew?'
• BOJ meeting concludes tomorrow - preview
• BOJ meeting begins today, concludes tomorrow - Goldman Sachs preview

And ...

• The Bank of Japan July meeting concludes today - here is when to expect the announcement

OK, more previews ...

Bank of America / Merrill Lynch ... these guys are straight to the point!

• We expect the Bank of Japan to keep policy on hold at its 20 July meeting, leaving its targets for rates and risk asset purchases unchanged.
• We also expect the BoJ to retain the ¥80tn "guideline" for increase in its JGB holdings.
• The Board will release its Outlook Report and update growth and CPI forecasts. We expect it to raise its FY17 and FY18 GDP forecasts by 0.1ppt each, to 1.7% and 1.4%, respectively.
• Meanwhile, we think the Board is likely to slash its FY17 core CPI projection to 1.0% or lower (vs its April projection of 1.4%), while also lowering its FY18 forecast to around 1.5-1.6%.
• The weak response of inflation to the recent growth pickup should keep the BoJ firmly on hold, in our view. Our base case is that the BoJ will keep rates on hold through Governor Kuroda's current term, and most likely through FY18. However, renewed political volatility raises uncertainty around policy direction beyond this fiscal year.

Société Générale say to focus on the economic outlook report from the Bank which will accompany the decision today:

• We expect the BoJ to stay on hold with its policy tools.
• The focus should however be on the outlook report, in which we expect the Bank to revise up its economic outlook, but to tone down the inflation outlook. The Bank could push back the timing for achieving the 2% inflation target again, but we do not expect it to abandon the inflation target completely.

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ps. On the CPI outlook ... check out the great stuff from CA on this and why the Bank of Japan consistently pushing back its CPI 'forecast' (CA say its not a forecast its more a profession of faith (OK, that's my words, but same same) is counterproductive