BOJ's Fukui sees hope for prices

"Thinking logically, there is hope that we can overcome deflation during the period from the end of this fiscal year into next fiscal year," Fukui said on NHK television. "Still, it's difficult to predict how the environment will change, so it's too early to say for sure."

Fukui said last week that it was "hard to expect consumer prices will rise anytime soon." The central bank lowered interest rates to almost zero in March 2001. Fukui has vowed to keep borrowing costs there until consumer prices stabilize at zero or above.

Separately, the statistics bureau said that the jobless rate fell to a three-year low of 4.7 percent in March as an economic recovery encourages hiring.

The economy added 190,000 jobs, seasonally adjusted, reducing the unemployment rate from 5 percent in February, the bureau said. The 0.3 percentage point drop in the jobless rate was the biggest monthly decline since April 1967.