BoJ’s Shirai warns against rush for 2% inflation at all costs

The Bank of Japan's (BoJ's) Sayuri Shirai believes it "may be appropriate" to take longer than two years to meet the central bank's 2% inflation target.

The BoJ adopted its inflation target in January 2013 and unveiled plans for aggressive quantitative and qualitative easing (QQE) in April in a bid to end the deflation that has plagued Japan for much of the past two decades.

Shirai, a policy board member, agrees the BoJ should "do its best" to achieve 2% inflation "at the earliest possible time", but argues that "it may take some time before the full impact of QQE materialises".

"In the end, what is important is that the BoJ is conducting monetary easing with the aim of achieving 2% inflation in a stable manner with sustainable economic growth, rather than merely achieving 2% in a specific year and failing to meet the target in subsequent years," she says.