My outlook for fiscal 2017 as a whole is that the average rate of core CPI inflation will decline somewhat and reach around a little over 1.5 percent – slightly below my July assessment – mainly due to the effects of the decline in demand following the frontloaded increase and a decline in real income.
On the timing with respect to achieving sustained inflation of around 2 percent in a stable manner, it might be necessary to assess this over a little longer time span. This is because there is high uncertainty regarding the effects of the planned consumption tax hike and the “quantitative” expansion of public- and private-sector fixed investment associated with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.