MNI BRIEF: BOJ Opinions: Concerns Over Impact Of High Prices

One Bank of Japan board member voiced concern over a possible downside risk to prices and a different member was worried about the negative impact of high prices on households, a summary of opinions from the April 27-28 meeting released on Thursday showed.

“The year-on-year rate of change in the CPI is likely to be at around 2% in the first half of fiscal 2022, due mainly to a surge in commodity prices. From the second half, however, attention needs to be paid to downside risks brought about by possible declines in commodity prices,” one member said, while another member suggested that "a pessimistic view on positive inflation could prevail among households as the pace of wage increases has not caught up with the pace of increase in perceived inflation.”