BOJ likely to keep monetary easing amid inflation, wage uncertainty

The Bank of Japan is widely expected to maintain ultralow interest rates at a two-day policy meeting from Thursday, as uncertainty looms over prospects for inflation, wage growth and monetary tightening overseas.

Prior to his second policy meeting since becoming governor in April, Kazuo Ueda pointed to upside risks to inflation due to recent changes in corporate price-setting behavior. But he reiterated the need to persist with monetary easing because there is “some distance” to achieving its 2 percent inflation target stably.

The Japanese central bank is expected to retain its yield curve con...