- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
- Madrid's Carvajal to miss several months after serious knee injury
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Sabalenka targets world number one and Wuhan hat-trick
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
Bank of Japan says no tightening as oil stirs inflation
Japan's central bank chief said on Friday the country will likely reach its key two-percent inflation target as oil rates surge, but the bank will continue monetary easing policies because the price rises are caused by external factors.
The Bank of Japan has struggled to lift inflation for nearly a decade with the world's third-largest economy swinging between periods of sluggish inflation and deflation, both considered bad for growth.
"Unlike in the US and Europe, inflation is currently at around 0.6 percent, and is likely to rise to about two percent after April," BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda told reporters following a two-day policy meeting.
"Most of the rise in prices will be caused by increases in international commodity supplies, energy, and food import prices, so naturally it is not necessary or appropriate to tighten monetary policy."
The United States Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday for the first time since 2018 in a bid to tackle soaring inflation.
Kuroda said consumption in Japan is expected to further recover from a pandemic dip as the government lifts restrictions -- which mainly require restaurants and bars to limit opening hours -- in Tokyo and elsewhere on Monday.
Japan's core consumer prices, which exclude volatile fresh food, rose 0.6 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed Friday.
The internal affairs ministry said the rise was driven by food prices and utility bills due to a surge in energy costs linked to the Ukraine crisis.
It met market expectations as the sixth straight monthly gain, and the sharpest rise since February 2020.
The BoJ's target of sustained two-percent inflation is seen as key to spurring healthy economic growth in Japan.
But analysts say that even if the target is hit in the coming months, it is unlikely to last.
"Once the energy-price shock and deterioration in terms of trade is gone, prices will decline again," Shigeto Nagai of Oxford Economics told AFP ahead of the BoJ meeting.
Excluding energy prices as well as fresh food, Japan's consumer prices were down 1.0 percent in February, the 11th straight monthly fall, the ministry said.
F.Moura--PC