NAGOYA, Japan — Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Monday that Japan was unlikely to fall back to deflation even after pressure from higher import prices eases.
“The inflation rate will not return to the range of 0% and 1%, which was the prepandemic level,” because the virtuous cycle between wages and prices is expected to strengthen, Ueda said in a speech to business leaders in the central Japan city of Nagoya, near Toyota Motor’s home.
In its quarterly outlook report released last week, the bank’s board said it projected consumer prices excluding fresh food to rise 2.8% in the year ending March 2025 and rise 1.7% in the following year.
Ueda added, however, that it was still not clear whether smaller firms would be able to raise wages again next year because some of those companies provided raises this year despite low profitability.