The Bank of Japan on Friday is set to project inflation will stay near its 2 per cent target in coming years and signal its readiness to raise interest rates from near-zero, in hope of keeping yen bears from pushing the currency to fresh 34-year lows. Recent threats of intervention by Japanese authorities have failed to arrest the yen's slide against the dollar to levels unseen since 1990, adding to headaches for policymakers worried about the hit to consumption from rising living costs. The yen's falls are driven by receding expectations of a near-term U.S. interest rate cut, and reassurances by the BOJ that it ... (full story)