SAPPORO, Japan, May 27 (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata said on Wednesday the timing for achieving the bank's 2 percent inflation target has been "somewhat delayed" from its initial projection.
But he said that with the underlying trend of inflation improving steadily and wages on the rise, Japan will likely hit 2 percent inflation around the first half of next fiscal year, beginning in April.
"At this moment, the BOJ has no intention of changing its commitment to achieving its price stability target at the earliest possible time," he told business leaders in Sapporo, in the northernmost Japanese prefecture of Hokkaido.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Additional reporting by Stanley White in Tokyo; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)
