TOKYO (Reuters) – An expected acceleration of inflation could hurt Japan’s economy by weighing on household income and corporate profit, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Tuesday.

“We will patiently maintain powerful monetary easing to support an economy still in the midst of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact,” he told parliament in a semi-annual testimony.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Christopher Cushing)