BoJ minutes: High chance of meeting inflation target if oil recovers

FXStreet (Bali) - Minutes of the Monetary Policy Meeting by the BOJ on January 20 and 21 have been published, with the main headlines - via Reuters - noting that oil prices remain the main focal point causing uncertainty on the inflation outlook going forward.

Headlines

Members agreed to share common forecast for oil prices as oil price swings could have big impact on cpi

Many members saw no change to long-term price trend

Many members said high chance of meeting inflation target around fy 2015 assuming gradual increase in oil prices

Many members said uncertainty about oil prices could change timing of meeting inflation target

One member said difficult to meet inflation target as cpi excluding food and energy is around zero

One member said inflation may approach 2 pct target but inflation is weakening due to falling oil