The Bank of Japan’s fight against deflation may last longer than it had hoped as firms remain reluctant to sharply raise wages, undermining the central bank’s goal of achieving its target of 2% inflation in two years. While the nationwide core consumer price index recently racked up three straight months of on-year growth, helping bolster the central bank’s argument that its aggressive, deflation-fighting policies are bearing fruit, people familiar with the BOJ’s thinking say that it is concerned that if base salaries don’t increase, the move toward inflation may end up being temporary. That was the case in 2008 when ... (full story)