MNI INSIGHT - The Bank of Japan board is........>

BOJ: MNI INSIGHT - The Bank of Japan board is expected to revise down its median

forecast for the consumer inflation rate in the current fiscal year from the

1.1% predicted in July to 1% or slightly lower due to continued weak price

moves, MNI understands. However, at its two-day meeting on Oct. 30-31, the board

will not changed the estimated timing for hitting the current 2% price target

from "around fiscal 2019", which it pushed back from "fiscal 2018" in July. The

BOJ board is also expected to stand pat on monetary policy as it continues to

see the momentum toward achieving the price target being maintained, even though

the improvement in prices has been slow. BOJ economists are analyzing why

consumer price moves have been weaker than they expected in July, which has cast

considerable doubt on achieving the 1.1% rise that the board predicted for this

fiscal year. "Judging from price moves so far and the outlook for prices,

meeting the 1.1% rate forecast may be impossible," a person familiar with BOJ

thinking said.