Monetary policy has managed to keep inflationary pressures in check by  2  BIS Review 32/2008  managing to lower core inflation; slippages in inflation target were inevitable given the uptrend in the global commodity prices as well as structural complexities and inefficiencies of wholesale and retail markets.
At present, Japan's potential growth rate as estimated by the Bank is in the range of 0.5-1.0 percent; the medians of the Policy Board members' forecasts of the growth rates for fiscal 2017 and 2018 were 1.6 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively (Chart 9). These projections are more or less unchanged from those presented in the January 2017 Outlook Report.