I posted on the PCI data from Japan for December here, woefully below the BOJ target (again … though you'd suspect the average chap or lady in Japan is not too fussed about prices not running higher):
Reuters with a few extra points:
- Bank of Japan's rate review next week
- board is seen cutting its price forecasts
- Stubbornly low inflation has forced the BOJ to maintain a radical stimulus programme despite the rising costs, such as the hit to financial institutions' profits from years of low rates.
- Japan's economy shrank in the third quarter of last year and some analysts suspect that any rebound in October-December may have been weaker than initially expected, as trade protectionism and slowing global demand hurt business sentiment. Many BOJ policymakers are wary of ramping up stimulus, though external shocks could force the central bank to pull the trigger if the economy is at risk of sliding into recession, analysts say.
