Many members say risks to prices are tilted to downside: BOJ minutes

27-May (Reuters) — Many Bank of Japan board members said risks to consumer prices are tilted to the downside due to uncertainty about long-term inflation expectations, consumer spending, and the output gap, minutes of the central bank’s April 30 policy meeting showed on Wednesday.

Members agreed that the risks to economic growth are balanced but they warned that growth could slow temporarily due to a nationwide sales tax increase scheduled for the start of fiscal 2017.

The BOJ pushed back the timing of achieving its inflation target at the April 30 meeting, and indications that many board members are uncertain about the price outlook could fan expectations for additional monetary easing later this year.

“With regard to the baseline scenario for prices, many members expressed the view that there was considerable uncertainty, mainly in developments in medium- to long-term inflation expectations, and risks on the price front were skewed to the downside,” the minutes said.

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PG View: Fifteen-years and trillions of yen into the QE experiment and the BoJ continues to fall short of its inflation objective. Perhaps it’s time to try something else . . . but of course they’ll just print more . . .