- Israel to mark October 7 attack as Gaza war spreads
- Gauff fights back to reach China Open final
- Recovering Stokes ruled out of first Pakistan Test
- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
Bank of Japan hikes inflation forecast on soaring energy prices
Japan's central bank hiked its full-year inflation forecast on Thursday but cautioned that it sees rising prices, driven by a surge in commodity costs cause by the Ukraine war, as a volatile and temporary trend.
Despite climbing prices and a slump in the yen to a 20-year low against the dollar, the Bank of Japan left its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged.
The bank revised upwards its inflation projection for the 2022-23 financial year to 1.9 percent -- sharply up from its previous 1.1 percent forecast.
The figure, which excludes fresh food, is just below the bank's longstanding two-percent target but the BoJ saw the rises as unsustainable and is calling for continued effort to achieve a sustainable cycle of dynamic economic growth.
Consumer prices are "likely to increase temporarily to around two percent -- due to the impact of a significant rise in energy prices -- in fiscal 2022", it said Thursday.
"However, the rate of increase is expected to decelerate, because the positive contribution of the rise in energy prices to the CPI (consumer price index) is likely to wane."
In March, core consumer prices rose 0.8 percent -- the fastest increase in more than two years -- as oil prices soared.
Excluding energy, however, prices were down 0.7 percent, reflecting what the bank says is the need for continued effort to achieve a sustainable cycle of dynamic economic growth that stimulates demand.
On Thursday, the bank's policymakers left their inflation forecast for 2023-24 unchanged at 1.1 percent.
The BoJ said it now expects the economy to grow 2.9 percent in the current fiscal year, against its previous forecast of 3.8 percent. But it also predicted 1.9 percent expansion in 2023-24, from its previous projection of 1.1 percent.
The changes were down to factors including "a resurgence of Covid-19, the rise in commodity prices and a slowdown in overseas economies", the bank said.
The two-day BoJ meeting that ended Thursday comes with the yen at its weakest level against the dollar since 2002 because of the widening gap between Japan's loose monetary policy and the US Federal Reserve's increasingly hawkish tilt.
The bank has suggested that the benefits of a weaker yen, particularly for major Japanese exporters, outweigh the disadvantages, but this messaging has become more difficult to sustain in the face of growing concern.
A weaker yen is particularly problematic for resource-poor Japan, which relies on energy imports, and in recent weeks politicians have expressed concern about the speed of the currency's slump.
But no intervention appears on the horizon, though Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government this week unveiled a new economic package including cash handouts for low-income families and an expansion of fuel subsidies to cushion the impact of rising prices.
E.Raimundo--PC