BOJ’s Asada: Japan’s economy cannot be called strong with CPI below 2%

Asada's framing matters because it ties the BOJ's definition of economic strength directly to the inflation target, rather than to growth or wages — effectively setting a higher bar for calling conditions robust. That gives normalization hawks less rhetorical room while CPI stays below target, and keeps the timing of any stimulus exit contingent on price data rather than activity data. The open question is whether other board members adopt the same framing, since that would shape how the BOJ communicates its next policy step.