BOJ's Kuroda vows to 'persistently' continue aggressive monetary easing
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Friday the central bank should "persistently" continue with its current aggressive monetary easing, despite an expected temporary rise in inflation driven by surging commodity costs.
Japan's inflation is expected to rise in the short run, but such a rise consists primarily of cost-push inflation and therefore lacks sustainability, Kuroda said.
"The output gap in Japan is negative, and there is still a long way to go to achieve the 2% target in a stable manner," Kuroda said in a speech delivered at Columbia University, referring to the BOJ's 2% inflation target.
"The Bank's role in the current context is perfectly clear: to persistently continue with the current monetary easing centered on yield curve control," he said. (Reporting by Dan Burns in New York, Leika Kihara in Tokyo; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
