BOJ's Kuroda counters IMF's gloomy forecast on Japan inflation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Thursday defended the central bank's rosy inflation forecasts, saying the gap with the gloomy estimates made by the IMF were mostly due to how each side perceives the output gap and inflation expectations.

"The IMF seems to predict that prices won't rise much, but we think the output gap will narrow significantly and inflation expectations will heighten in the long run. We expect inflation to steadily accelerate toward 2 percent," Kuroda said on arrival in Washington to attend the Group of 20 finance leaders' gathering.

On the International Monetary Fund's recommendation that the BOJ should buy more private assets if it were to ease again, Kuroda said what kind of measures the bank will take will depend on economic and market conditions at the time.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Andrea Ricci)