Two years on, BoJ chief says war on deflation 'very challenging'

The head of the Bank of Japan on Friday acknowledged that Tokyo's attempt to conquer years of deflation had been "very challenging", but said it was a key test case for other central banks. The unusually downbeat comment from Haruhiko Kuroda underscores the scale of the task he and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe face as they look to revive Japan's fortunes with a vast monetary easing programme and government spending blitz, dubbed Abenomics. The scheme, launched in 2013, kicked of