BOJ to stand pat even as goals depart from reality: sources

Tokyo

BANK of Japan (BOJ) policymakers are in no mood to expand monetary stimulus this week, sources familiar with their thinking say, even as poor data challenges their presumption that economic recovery will boost inflation to its 2 per cent target next year.

When BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda last opened the monetary taps, in October, he was backed by a razor-thin majority on the bank's board, and although subsequent changes have moved the board closer to his policy stance, a repeat looks even less likely now, the sources said.