As I have mentioned repeatedly, the Bank aims at a moderate rise in the CPI inflation accompanied by a rise in corporate profits and wages. Recently, private consumption is picking up amid the steady improvement in the employment and income situation. If this situation continues, firms are expected to be more proactive in their price setting again.
Meanwhile, the contribution of energy prices to the year-on-year rate of change in the CPI, which was more than minus 1 percentage point, has been shrinking gradually and is currently more or less neutral. Going forward, assuming that crude oil prices will remain roughly flat, as indicated by prices in futures markets, the contribution will turn slightly positive in fiscal 2017.