The Bank of Japan is increasingly wary of the risk of persistently high consumer price inflation, amid widespread moves by companies to pass on higher raw material costs to consumers and raise wages in response to labor shortages.

 The BOJ expects inflation in the country to slow from the middle of this fiscal year, but skepticism about this scenario is growing among market participants. There is smoldering speculation that the central bank will revise its massive monetary easing policy.

 "Inflation spreading from overseas has already ended, and import prices have started to fall," BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said at a press conference on Friday after the central bank decided to maintain its current policy at a two-day policy meeting that ended earlier in the day.

 Ueda noted that upward pressure on prices from high commodity prices and the yen's depreciation is expected to ease.
 Growth in consumer prices is seen "falling below 2 pct," the BOJ chief said, reiterating the central bank's stance of not rushing to normalize its monetary policy.