Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Friday the central bank will keep raising interest rates if underlying inflation accelerates toward its 2% target, as it projects. But Ueda told parliament the BOJ will scrutinise "without pre-conception" whether the economy will move in line with its forecasts given uncertainty over the impact of U.

Japan's inflation grew 3.6% year on year in March, marking three straight years that the headline inflation figure is above the Bank of Japan's 2% target.

Japan’s consumer inflation edged down but core inflation accelerated in March. Yet, economic uncertainty will limit the Bank of Japan’s ability to continue hiking rates in the near term.