Bank of Japan Governor Ueda Kazuo held a news conference after the BOJ downgraded its outlook.



Ueda said Japan's economic activity and prices have been generally on track.



But he explained that BOJ policymakers took into account some progress in ongoing trade negotiations. They compiled the outlook on the premise that a level of tariffs that cannot be ignored will remain.



Ueda was also asked about the timing of the next interest-rate hikes. He said: "As the accuracy of our outlook is relatively low, I think there is a large chance of a review of our projections due to changes in a range of conditions, including tariffs. The timing of interest rate hikes will shift depending on future developments."