BOJ tankan shows Japan companies' inflation expectations unchanged

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese companies' inflation expectations in the Bank of Japan's June tankan survey were largely unchanged from the previous survey, a sign that prices pressures may not be increasing as quickly as the central bank hopes.

The data on inflation expectations comes one day after the June tankan survey showed business sentiment improved to levels hit before last year's sales tax hike hurt consumption and sent the economy into a mild recession.

It also showed that big companies plan to increase capital expenditure at the fastest pace in a decade.

Business sentiment points to solid economic growth, but inflation expectations suggest consumer prices may not rise fast enough to meet the central bank's 2 percent inflation target in the first half of next fiscal year.

Companies expect consumer prices to rise an average 1.4 percent a year from now, unchanged from their projection three months ago, the BOJ tankan survey showed on Thursday.

Firms polled said they expect consumer prices to rise an annual 1.5 percent three years from now, just below 1.6 percent inflation expected in the March survey.

In five years' time, companies expect consumer prices to rise an annual 1.6 percent, unchanged from the previous survey.

In April, the BOJ pushed back the timing of meeting its 2 percent inflation target to the first half of fiscal 2016 from sometime around the current fiscal year as a decline in oil prices caused inflation to ground to a halt.

Consumer prices recently have shown signs of stabilizing slightly above zero, but the BOJ's inflation survey suggests even this delayed target may be overly ambitious.

The BOJ started the survey on corporate price expectations from the tankan in March 2014 to gather more information on inflation expectations, key to its quantitative easing program.

(Editing by Kim Coghill)