Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is.......>

BOJ: Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda is holding a routine lunch meeting

with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday to compare notes on economic and

financial conditions. The meeting comes at a time of generally firm stock

markets, stable yen exchange rates and continued modest economic recovery in

Japan. At its next policy meeting on Dec. 20-21, the Bank of Japan board is

expected to maintain its current yield curve control targets. 

- Kuroda told a financial forum Monday that the current nearly flat Japanese

government bond yield curve is appropriate for sustained growth and stable

prices without hurting the functioning of the banking system. But he also said

the central bank would take action to prevent any unfavorable factors from

preventing the central bank from achieving its 2% inflation target. Japan's

annual inflation rate measured by core CPI (excluding fresh food) is still below

1%.