BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda is speaking in parliament at the lower house on his confirmation hearing
- Not sure if jobless rate will continue at that level
- Japan is out of deflationary situation
- But have yet to declare exit from deflation just yet
- As with other central banks, BOJ believes achieving 2% inflation target is key to achieving price stability
- It will take time to change the deeply rooted deflationary mindset
- That mindset is a reason why prices are not rising strongly
- Prices remain weak, but is maintaining momentum towards 2% inflation target
His speech so far has put a lot of emphasis on the inflation target as well as the deflationary mindset. It's nothing new, but adds more weight to the fact that if the BOJ really does want to move to normalise monetary policy, it will all depend on inflation pressures.
Regarding the unemployment rate, he's making reference to this morning's report here.
