TOKYO: Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday there is a high chance that consumer prices will reach the central bank's 2 percent inflation target sometime from the end of fiscal 2014 to the beginning of fiscal 2015.

Upward pressure on consumer prices will increase due to improvements in the supply-demand balance, but the positive impact from energy prices will start to fade, Kuroda said in a speech.

The BoJ last week maintained its pledge of increasing base money, its key monetary policy gauge, at an annual pace of 60-70 trillion yen ($590-$690 billion).

The BoJ launched the stimulus April last year, saying it would lift inflation to 2 percent within around two years via aggressive asset purchases as it sought to end 15 years of deflation.