- BOJ must not be complacent as downward price pressure remains fairly strong
- Must not just look at short-term, but medium and long-term inflation expectations
- Seeing signs of inflation heading towards 2% in sustainable manner but not yet convinced
The headline comment is something to be mindful of. The government is pressing for businesses to increase wages significantly in the coming negotiations in February and March but if the BOJ doesn't deem that as being enough, that'll be a big blow to those hoping for more of a policy change. But I guess we'll have to wait and see until post-Kuroda on this one.