With 2 percent inflation target, Japan signals new strategy to boost economy

SEOUL — Japan’s central bank on Tuesday doubled its inflation target to 2 percent, a main pillar in the country’s aggressive new strategy to break away from a two-decade economic stagnation.

The Bank of Japan’s new commitment, coupled with the government’s splurge of spending on public works projects, represents a controversial rethink about the way developed countries should repair their crisis-battered economies.

Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, elected last month, Japan has turned away from the well-worn practices followed by economies under duress — conventions that call for austerity and debt reduction. Japan, instead, is trying to spend its way out of a recession rather than cutting back.