Kuroda’s optimistic comments at Davos suggest BoJ will maintain upbeat economic and price forecasts at Jan meet

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at the World Economic Forum at Davos was optimistic that Japan's economy is likely to head toward a sustainable growth path as global trade and manufacturing activity pick up.

The central bank governor defended his monetary policy. He said that since the introduction of quantitative and qualitative easing, the economy had picked up considerably, corporate profits are at record highs, the unemployment rate has eased to 3 percent and the inflation rate has been in positive territory for the past three years.

Kuroda however noted that firms have remained cautious of wage increases, which is one reason why inflation hasn’t been gathering momentum. Still, Kuroda said Japan’s economy was likely to expand 1.5 percent both in the current fiscal year ending in March, and the following year, on the back of a rebound in global demand.

Kuroda's growth projections are higher than the BOJ board’s median forecasts of 1.0 percent expansion this fiscal year and 1.3 percent the following year. The governor's optimistic comments suggest the BOJ will maintain its upbeat economic and price forecasts at its Jan. 30-31 policy meeting.