Japan stimulus gets G20 green light

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda won international endorsement of his stepped-up stimulus push, saying it emboldened him to press ahead with his campaign to defeat 15 years of deflation.

Alert to signs of a slowing global economy, Group of 20 finance chiefs and central bankers on April 19 praised this month's measures by the BOJ aimed at delivering 2 percent inflation within two years. They signaled Japan's focus on supporting domestic demand was strong enough to allow them to ignore the side effects on their own economies of a sliding yen.

"Winning international understanding gives me more confidence to conduct monetary policy appropriately," Kuroda told reporters after the meeting in Washington. "We will continue our qualitative and quantitative easing for the next two years to achieve the 2 percent price stability target."