The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has put the pressure back on the government to do something about the structural problems plaguing the Japanese economy, the day after it acceded to the demand from prime minister Shinzo Abe to set a 2% annual inflation target.

Following the January 22 decision to change the target and implement open-ended asset purchases in 2014, the Bank of Japan seemed keen to re-assert its independence from the country's government. In a note published today (January 23), the central