A former BoJ Chief Economist, Kazuo Momma, said in an MNI interview on Wednesday, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will have to wait until August to gain good insight into whether wage increases are gaining traction.

Additional quotes

"As for wages, the most typical data is the government's monthly labor survey. The BOJ is focused on macro-economic data and the bank cannot assess overall wages through only one month of data.”

“The BoJ needs to examine wage data for the April-June period to ascertain how the trend of wages has changed, but wage data for June will only be available in early August.”

“Bank officials are also closely watching the process of spring wage negotiations, which offer very important information, and the scale of wage hikes in fiscal 2023.”

"Apart from the government's subsidies, the year-on-year rise of Japan's consumer prices will likely fall as import prices are falling."

"Manufacturers may weaken in the wake of a slowdown of overseas economies but a steady economic recovery on a whole is projected.”

"Eating and drinking services, accommodation and various events that had been restricted (by the government) will activate.”

"Meanwhile, the BOJ survey showed that household circumstances are worsening amid high prices.”