Masuhisa Kobayashi Early Quotations

As the government is growing increasingly receptive to the idea of a policy shift, the central bank could very well change policy as early as March 9.

As the data show, the gap between domestic supply and demand is clearly narrowing, which should create the environment for prices to rise stably.

Although some government officials and ruling bloc lawmakers remain reluctant toward an early policy shift, there are nearly no objections in the private sector, including the banking industry, the insurance industry and business lobbies.

The CPI was higher than expected and is supportive for the BOJ. The markets have already discounted an early end to the quantitative easing policy.