Success is within reach, says Kuroda about achieving inflation target

Tokyo

BANK of Japan (BOJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda launched a spirited defence on Friday of the central bank's aggressive monetary easing policy, arguing that success is within reach in the battle to achieve an inflation target, even as he denied that the BOJ was deliberately depressing the value of the yen.

The annual rate of change in the consumer price index (CPI) has been positive for 20 months since June 2013 - the first time since 1998 that people have experienced inflation - and basic pay rates rose last year for the first time in about 20 years, he said.