Japan lifts inflation outlook above BOJ target to 2.6 pct

The Japanese government is raising its outlook for consumer inflation for the fiscal year of 2023 to 2.6 percent from a previous estimate of 1.7 percent, local media reported Thursday.

The outlook was updated for the fiscal period from April to next March, setting a target way above the Bank of Japan (BOJ)'s goal, national news agency Kyodo reported, citing the Cabinet Office.

The government had estimated that consumer prices, which include energy and volatile fresh food items, would rise 1.7 percent in fiscal 2023. For fiscal 2024, prices are estimated to gain 1.9 percent.

The revised forecasts were presented to a meeting of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Thursday as its members debated a budget framework for the next fiscal year, according to Kyodo.

The BOJ, Japan's central bank, is scheduled to update its economic and price outlooks at a two-day policy meeting next week.

Also on Thursday, the economic outlook for fiscal 2023 has been downgraded by the government amid slowing export growth, predicting Japan's real gross domestic product to grow 1.3 percent, instead of the 1.5 percent projected in January, according to Kyodo.